A slow handover, not a cliff
Because the subsidy halves about every four years, the shift from new coins to fees happens gradually over the coming decades. By the final eras the subsidy is already a few satoshis per block.
The last bitcoin, by the numbers.
Bitcoin's supply follows a schedule written into its rules. The reward for each new block halves every 210,000 blocks until it rounds down to zero after block 6,929,999 — expected, at the current pace, around the year 2140.
- Final supply
- 20,999,999.9769BTC
- Reward eras
- 33eras 0–32
- Last reward
- 1sat, block 6,929,999
- First fee-only block
- 6,930,000estimated ≈ 2140
How issuance works
-
A reward for every block
Each block may pay its miner a subsidy of newly created bitcoin, plus the fees of the transactions it includes. The subsidy started at 50 BTC in January 2009.
-
Halving every 210,000 blocks
The subsidy is cut in half every 210,000 blocks. It is counted in whole satoshis and rounded down, so after 32 halvings it reaches 1 sat — and the next halving makes it zero.
-
About ten minutes per block
Every 2,016 blocks the network adjusts mining difficulty to aim for one block every ten minutes on average. That makes each era roughly four years — so dates are estimates, while block heights are exact.
The supply curve
Drag across the chart, or use the slider, to read the supply at any block height. Each straight stretch is one era with a constant reward; each bend is a halving.
- Block height
- 840,000
- Year
- 2024
- Era · reward
- —
- Issued so far
- —
- Share of final supply
Every era, to the last sat
Past halving dates are recorded history. Later years are estimates that assume ten-minute blocks from April 2024 onward.
| Era | Blocks | Reward per block | Issued in era (BTC) | Total after era (BTC) | Share | Era begins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 – 209,999 | 50 BTC 5,000,000,000 sats | 10,500,000 | 10,500,000 | 50.00% | 2009 Jan, genesis |
| 1 | 210,000 – 419,999 | 25 BTC 2,500,000,000 sats | 5,250,000 | 15,750,000 | 75.00% | 2012 Nov |
| 2 | 420,000 – 629,999 | 12.5 BTC 1,250,000,000 sats | 2,625,000 | 18,375,000 | 87.50% | 2016 Jul |
| 3 | 630,000 – 839,999 | 6.25 BTC 625,000,000 sats | 1,312,500 | 19,687,500 | 93.75% | 2020 May |
| 4 | 840,000 – 1,049,999 | 3.125 BTC 312,500,000 sats | 656,250 | 20,343,750 | 96.88% | 2024 Apr |
| 5 | 1,050,000 – 1,259,999 | 1.5625 BTC 156,250,000 sats | 328,125 | 20,671,875 | 98.44% | ≈ 2028 |
| 6 | 1,260,000 – 1,469,999 | 0.78125 BTC 78,125,000 sats | 164,062.5 | 20,835,937.5 | 99.22% | ≈ 2032 |
| 7 | 1,470,000 – 1,679,999 | 0.390625 BTC 39,062,500 sats | 82,031.25 | 20,917,968.75 | 99.61% | ≈ 2036 |
| 8 | 1,680,000 – 1,889,999 | 0.1953125 BTC 19,531,250 sats | 41,015.625 | 20,958,984.375 | 99.80% | ≈ 2040 |
| 9 | 1,890,000 – 2,099,999 | 0.09765625 BTC 9,765,625 sats | 20,507.8125 | 20,979,492.1875 | 99.902% | ≈ 2044 |
| 10 | 2,100,000 – 2,309,999 | 0.04882812 BTC 4,882,812 sats | 10,253.9052 | 20,989,746.0927 | 99.951% | ≈ 2048 |
| 11 | 2,310,000 – 2,519,999 | 0.02441406 BTC 2,441,406 sats | 5,126.9526 | 20,994,873.0453 | 99.975% | ≈ 2052 |
| 12 | 2,520,000 – 2,729,999 | 0.01220703 BTC 1,220,703 sats | 2,563.4763 | 20,997,436.5216 | 99.987% | ≈ 2056 |
| 13 | 2,730,000 – 2,939,999 | 0.00610351 BTC 610,351 sats | 1,281.7371 | 20,998,718.2587 | 99.9938% | ≈ 2060 |
| 14 | 2,940,000 – 3,149,999 | 0.00305175 BTC 305,175 sats | 640.8675 | 20,999,359.1262 | 99.9969% | ≈ 2064 |
| 15 | 3,150,000 – 3,359,999 | 0.00152587 BTC 152,587 sats | 320.4327 | 20,999,679.5589 | 99.9984% | ≈ 2068 |
| 16 | 3,360,000 – 3,569,999 | 0.00076293 BTC 76,293 sats | 160.2153 | 20,999,839.7742 | 99.99923% | ≈ 2072 |
| 17 | 3,570,000 – 3,779,999 | 0.00038146 BTC 38,146 sats | 80.1066 | 20,999,919.8808 | 99.99961% | ≈ 2076 |
| 18 | 3,780,000 – 3,989,999 | 0.00019073 BTC 19,073 sats | 40.0533 | 20,999,959.9341 | 99.99980% | ≈ 2080 |
| 19 | 3,990,000 – 4,199,999 | 9,536 sats | 20.0256 | 20,999,979.9597 | 99.999904% | ≈ 2084 |
| 20 | 4,200,000 – 4,409,999 | 4,768 sats | 10.0128 | 20,999,989.9725 | 99.999952% | ≈ 2088 |
| 21 | 4,410,000 – 4,619,999 | 2,384 sats | 5.0064 | 20,999,994.9789 | 99.999976% | ≈ 2092 |
| 22 | 4,620,000 – 4,829,999 | 1,192 sats | 2.5032 | 20,999,997.4821 | 99.999988% | ≈ 2096 |
| 23 | 4,830,000 – 5,039,999 | 596 sats | 1.2516 | 20,999,998.7337 | 99.9999940% | ≈ 2100 |
| 24 | 5,040,000 – 5,249,999 | 298 sats | 0.6258 | 20,999,999.3595 | 99.9999970% | ≈ 2104 |
| 25 | 5,250,000 – 5,459,999 | 149 sats | 0.3129 | 20,999,999.6724 | 99.9999985% | ≈ 2108 |
| 26 | 5,460,000 – 5,669,999 | 74 sats | 0.1554 | 20,999,999.8278 | 99.99999928% | ≈ 2112 |
| 27 | 5,670,000 – 5,879,999 | 37 sats | 0.0777 | 20,999,999.9055 | 99.99999965% | ≈ 2116 |
| 28 | 5,880,000 – 6,089,999 | 18 sats | 0.0378 | 20,999,999.9433 | 99.99999983% | ≈ 2120 |
| 29 | 6,090,000 – 6,299,999 | 9 sats | 0.0189 | 20,999,999.9622 | 99.999999929% | ≈ 2124 |
| 30 | 6,300,000 – 6,509,999 | 4 sats | 0.0084 | 20,999,999.9706 | 99.999999969% | ≈ 2128 |
| 31 | 6,510,000 – 6,719,999 | 2 sats | 0.0042 | 20,999,999.9748 | 99.9999999899% | ≈ 2132 |
| 32 | 6,720,000 – 6,929,999 | 1 sat | 0.0021 | 20,999,999.9769 | 100% | ≈ 2136 |
| 33+ | 6,930,000 onward | 0 — fees only | 0 | 20,999,999.9769 | 100% | ≈ 2140 |
When miners earn only fees
What stays the same
Blocks are still found, difficulty still adjusts every 2,016 blocks, and transactions are still confirmed. The only change is where the miner's reward comes from: the fees users attach to their transactions.
The open question
Mining security rests on miners being paid enough that attacking the chain is expensive. Whether fees alone will be enough is debated by researchers and developers, and nobody can settle it in advance.
What could shape fees
Ideas discussed include steady demand for block space, systems built on top of Bitcoin that settle on-chain, and high-value transactions paying for faster confirmation. All of them are possibilities, not promises.