Bitcoin Miners Are About to Tap 17 Millionth Coin

Bitcoin miners are close to tapping the 17 millionth bitcoin as the digital currency source becomes more limited. By design, only 21 million bitcoins were available for mining when the cryptocurrency was created. That landmark bitcoin should be mined in the next day or two, according to Blockchain.info data cited by Coindesk.

Bitcoin has had a difficult year, with the currency down by about half from its December highs of nearly $20,000. On Thursday, bitcoin was trading down about 2.4% at $8,853.51 after a rally this month from a low of under $7,000. Bitcoin slipped before breaching the $10,000 level or 200-day moving average.

No one knows who will mine the last bitcoin, or when exactly it will be mined. But about 1,800 new bitcoins are created daily, or a bitcoin block of 12.5 bitcoin about every 10 minutes.

A Psychological Landmark

The mining of the 17 millionth bitcoin is more of a psychological landmark than one with direct impact on bitcoin’s value. But some view the milestone as underscoring the fact that bitcoin supplies are depleting, like gold, which underscores its value. They say the milestone is likely to generate more buzz an interest in bitcoin.

However, others are skeptical that bitcoin will ever recover from its slump. Skeptics point to an uncertain regulatory environment around the world as among their chief concerns.