Bitcoin (BTC) has reached a significant historical milestone, with 20 million coins mined. This feat represents more than 95% of the total scheduled supply of 21 million Bitcoins, leaving less than 1 million coins to be mined. The news, released by Bitcoin Magazine, highlights the growing digital scarcity of the pioneering cryptocurrency and raises questions about its future and impact on the market.
Since its creation in 2009, Bitcoin has operated under a protocol that strictly limits its issuance. Every approximately four years, the event known as 'halving' halves the reward that miners receive for validating transactions and creating new coins. This programmed scarcity mechanism is one of the pillars of Bitcoin's investment thesis, often compared to scarce assets like gold.
Reaching 20 million coins mined means that Bitcoin's inflation rate will continue to decrease. In the coming years, the issuance of new coins will be fewer and fewer, making the acquisition of new Bitcoins more challenging for miners and, consequently, reducing the supply available on the market. This dynamic could have significant implications for price, especially if demand continues to grow or remains stable. Limited supply, combined with growing demand, has historically been a driver for the appreciation of scarce assets.
As Bitcoin advances toward its maximum supply, other digital assets and their respective markets face their own challenges. In the Polkadot ecosystem, for example, 21Shares launched the first ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) referenced to DOT in the United States, traded on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker TDOT. This move represents an important step towards greater institutional adoption and accessibility of Polkadot for traditional investors in the US market. The availability of regulated financial products like ETFs tends to increase liquidity and confidence around a specific asset.
On the other hand, XRP, the cryptocurrency associated with Ripple, has faced a period of pressure. According to Cointelegraph, a sizable portion of XRP holders are experiencing unrealized losses, with the coin trading below $1.40. It is estimated that around 60% of the circulating supply is 'submerged', that is, with a market value lower than the acquisition price of its holders. Factors such as outflows from spot ETFs and weakened market sentiment have contributed to this devaluation. This scenario contrasts with Bitcoin's positive scarcity narrative, highlighting the volatility and risks inherent to the cryptoactive market.
The distinction between Bitcoin's trajectory, driven by its scheduled scarcity and growing adoption, and the challenges faced by other assets such as XRP, highlights the diversity of factors influencing the cryptocurrency market. As Bitcoin approaches the limit of its supply, the focus turns to the importance of tight supply as a driver of long-term appreciation. Mining each of the last 1 million Bitcoins will become increasingly competitive and costly, reinforcing the concept of digital scarcity as a competitive differentiator.
For Brazilian investors, the milestone of 20 million Bitcoins reinforces the narrative that the asset is finite. In a global scenario where the printing of fiat money by central banks has been a recurring practice, Bitcoin's limited supply positions it as a potential store of value. Tracking the evolution of circulating supply and halving events is crucial to understanding the forces that shape Bitcoin's price. At the same time, the entry of products such as Polkadot ETFs in the US may signal a growing institutional interest in other cryptocurrencies, opening new avenues for diversification in the future, although always with due caution and risk analysis.