What Happens When All 21 Million Bitcoins Are Mined?

Bitcoin, the world’s first and most well-known cryptocurrency, has a capped supply of 21 million coins—a design choice coded into the protocol by its anonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. As of mid-2025, over 19.7 million BTC have already been mined, leaving fewer than 1.3 million BTC remaining. But what happens when the last Bitcoin is mined? How will it affect the crypto ecosystem, miners, and investors?

1. No More Block Rewards – Transaction Fees Become Key

Currently, Bitcoin miners earn block rewards—newly minted BTC—for validating transactions and adding new blocks to the blockchain. However, once all 21 million coins have been mined (expected around the year 2140), miners will no longer receive these rewards. Instead, their only source of income will be transaction fees paid by users.

This shift may lead to:

• Increased transaction fees, especially during high network demand

• Greater emphasis on efficiency and layer-2 scaling solutions like the Lightning Network

• Reduced incentives for mining if fees are too low, potentially affecting network security

2. Miners and Network Security

Without block rewards, the economic incentive for miners to secure the network changes. If transaction fees are insufficient to cover the cost of mining operations (hardware, electricity), some miners may exit the network, leading to reduced hash power and possibly higher centralization.

However, if Bitcoin’s adoption continues to grow and fees rise accordingly, mining could remain profitable, maintaining a healthy level of decentralization and security.

3. Bitcoin as a Deflationary Asset

Bitcoin’s fixed supply makes it inherently deflationary. When all coins are mined:

• No new BTC will enter circulation

• Lost coins (due to forgotten keys, etc.) will reduce available supply

• Scarcity could significantly drive up the price if demand remains strong

This could further solidify Bitcoin’s role as “digital gold” or a long-term store of value.

4. Greater Focus on Utility and Innovation

With no more new coins to distribute, the ecosystem may focus more on innovation, usability, and integration:

• Layer-2 technologies will likely become mainstream

• Energy efficiency will be a top priority for miners

• Bitcoin applications may expand beyond just store-of-value, including micropayments and DeFi integrations

5. Regulatory and Economic Impacts

A Bitcoin with a fixed, fully mined supply may also influence broader economic and regulatory frameworks:

• Governments may reassess their monetary policies

• Crypto could gain stronger recognition in global finance

• Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) might emerge as competitive or complementary systems

Tom Lee Sets $10,000 Ethereum Target After Bitmine Launch and New Investment Strategy

Tom Lee, the renowned crypto analyst from Fundstrat, has set a bold $10,000 target for Ethereum following the recent launch of Bitmine, an advanced crypto mining and infrastructure platform.

Lee believes that Ethereum’s fundamentals are strengthening, driven by institutional interest, staking, and deflationary supply after EIP-1559. He noted that Bitmine’s integration with Ethereum’s Layer-2 scaling could further increase network usage and reduce transaction costs, making Ethereum more attractive for both developers and investors.

Additionally, Tom Lee revealed a new investment strategy focused on dollar-cost averaging into Ethereum while maintaining long-term conviction, considering Ethereum’s leadership in smart contracts, DeFi, and tokenization.

With Ethereum trading around $3,400 at the time of writing, Lee’s $10,000 target would represent nearly a 3x upside potential, attracting attention from both retail and institutional investors.

If you are looking to diversify your crypto portfolio and seek long-term growth, it is worth tracking Ethereum’s performance as infrastructure players like Bitmine continue to expand and support the network.

Stay tuned for more crypto updates and strategy guides as the market evolves.