Bitcoin is the first and longest running blockchain network. The launch of this platform took place on 3 January 2009 when an anonymous creator – Satoshi Nakamoto – “mined” the first block, the so-called “Genesis Block”.
The assumptions of Bitcoin were written down in the Bitcoin Whitepaper which describes the entire mechanics of this technology, thus putting it into the hands of people who continue to develop the decentralized network based on Peer-to-Peer (P2P) mechanism.
One of the most important aspects of Bitcoin written in its code is the distribution and mechanism of creating new coins. The source code stores the maximum amount (max supply) of Bitcoins that will ever be created. This amount is specified at 21 MILLION bitcoins.
New bitcoins are created in the aforementioned mining process – it is associated with the reward for helping to maintain the decentralized network. There is a specific and coded mechanism that determines exactly how many Bitcoins can be produced in each block.
The last – 21st million Bitcoin – will be mined in year 2140.
Due to the relatively small number of Bitcoins that can be mined, the author used the possibility of dividing bitcoin into much smaller parts – up to eight decimal places. Therefore, phrases like “mBTC” are often used – that is, miliBitcoin with a value of 0.001 bitcoin.
1BTC = 1,000 mBTC