The scarcity of Bitcoin is its core value, primarily stemming from its design supply cap.
The total supply of Bitcoin is fixed at 21 million coins, a regulation controlled by the code in its underlying blockchain protocol, which no one can arbitrarily modify. With the halving mechanism occurring every four years, the Bitcoin production per block is halved, gradually slowing down the supply rate. Currently, over 90% of Bitcoin has been mined, and it is expected that the last Bitcoin will be mined in the year 2140.
Additionally, due to reasons such as lost private keys and forgotten wallet passwords, it is estimated that 4 million Bitcoins are permanently out of circulation, further increasing scarcity.
This scarcity, combined with its decentralized nature, makes Bitcoin regarded as digital gold, becoming an important tool for inflation resistance and value storage.
