We all know that Bitcoin’s supply is limited. Its maximum supply is 21 millions. So, the real question is what happens when there are no bitcoins to mine? What would happen if bitcoins run out? Transaction fees must be used as an incentive for miners if Bitcoin maintains its present consensus method. That may be a serious issue. Let’s jump right into the main question.
The final coins will be manufactured in roughly 2140, and there is a hard cap on the number of Bitcoin that may be mined at 21 million. When the whole amount in circulation is reached, block incentives to Bitcoin miners will stop being given. If there are no significant protocol modifications to Bitcoin between now and then, they will instead be compensated with transaction fees.
There are a total of 21 million Bitcoins in existence. I'm done now. There won't be any more Bitcoins produced after they are all mined, which is anticipated to happen in or around 2140.
The restricted supply model that underlies the Bitcoin blockchain stipulates that only a predetermined amount of new Bitcoin can be created annually until a total of 21 million coins have been created.
The network will mostly continue to function as it does today until all 21 million BTC have been mined, but there will be one significant change for miners.
Every ten minutes or so, a new block is "found" by a Bitcoin miner who successfully solves a cryptographic conundrum to add the new block to the network. Each block is made up of a collection of transaction records that were previously awaiting confirmation in the Bitcoin memory pool. These records are typically selected based on the amount of transaction fees they offer to the Bitcoin miner.
When all the Bitcoin has been mined, what will the miners do?
Bitcoin miners will still be able to take part in the block discovery process once all 21 million Bitcoin have been created, but they won't be compensated with Bitcoin block rewards. But that doesn't mean they won't receive any compensation.
Bitcoin miners receive all the fees paid on the transactions included in each newly discovered block in addition to block rewards. Since miners presently produce about 900 BTC per day but only make between 60 and 100 BTC in transaction fees daily, transaction fees currently only make up a small fraction of a miner's earnings. Accordingly, transaction fees only account for as low as 6.5% of a miner's income at the moment. That'll increase to 100% in 2140.
In April 2021, transaction fees exceeded their 2017 peak.
It is true that switching to a reward structure based only on transaction fees would very surely bring about the demise of the Bitcoin mining network, as very few miners would be able to mine Bitcoin successfully if they earned just 6.5% of their current returns.
However, if the Bitcoin network's usage were to skyrocket, block space may become extremely competitive. Ben Zhou, CEO of ByBit, claims it would probably result in higher transaction fee payouts for miners, similar to what was observed during Bitcoin's bull run in 2017.
But Bitcoin might also go in another direction. What if Bitcoin miners completely quit mining Bitcoin because transitioning to a reward structure purely based on transaction fees would be a tremendous blow to miners—they would only earn just 6.5% of the rewards they earn now?
What happens if Bitcoin miners stop mining?
There is a school of thought that claims transaction fees will continue to serve as a strong incentive for miners in the future, but not everyone concurs.
Obviously, the Bitcoin network would change drastically if the majority of miners, or even all of them, decided to cease mining the cryptocurrency. Viewing which wallet addresses and how much Bitcoin they contain as well as the complete history of every single Bitcoin transaction ever done would still be possible.
But mining is necessary for verifying fresh transactions. It would practically be impossible to spend any Bitcoin in the future if miners stopped creating new blocks.
Summary
The final coins will be minted in roughly 2140, and there is a hard cap on the number of Bitcoin that may be mined at 21 million.
When the whole amount in circulation is reached, block incentives to Bitcoin miners will stop being given.
If there are no significant protocol modifications to Bitcoin between now and then, they will instead be compensated with transaction fees.
