[freebeard]

Bitcoin is just a proof of concept. Rewarding miners is what jump-started it. When the last coin is mined, who propagates the chain forward?

80% of all Bitcoins Will Have Been Mined In a year From now

The world of Bitcoin is in for quite a reality shock in about a year from now. As most people are well aware of, the amount of bitcoins being mined every day is much compared to a few years ago. What is even more intriguing is how the vast majority of BTC has been mined already. In January of 2018, 80% of all 21 million BTC will be mined and brought into circulation. A significant milestone that should not be overlooked by any means.
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One of the lingering questions being asked aloud is whether or not we will ever see 100% of bitcoin’s entire supply be mined to begin with. The final 5% could prove to be challenging, as the trade-off between costs and earnings will make it seem far less attractive to do so. It will take a very long time to mine the 21st million BTC, that much is already a given at this point. In fact, most people alive today in the bitcoin world will never that happen.

The coming year could become a very important one for Bitcoin as a whole. Albeit there are no guarantees or certainties, once 80% of the supply is mined, things will change eventually. Whether that will be in positive or negative fashion, remains unknown at this point. We live in very exciting times, especially when one has grown fond of the concept of bitcoin and cryptocurrency.

https://themerkle.com/80-of-all-bitc...year-from-now/