Educational information, not financial advice.
Scarcity is about two numbers: how much exists (stock) and how much is added per year (flow).
Bitcoin's numbers (23 Oct 2026)
- Block height 972,832. Supply computed from the schedule: about 20.1 million BTC of the 21 million cap.
- New coins: 3.125 BTC × about 144 blocks a day ≈ 164,000 BTC a year, roughly 0.8% of supply.
- That rate halves around 2028, and keeps halving.
Why it matters
Most money and commodities can be produced more when prices rise. Gold miners dig more; central banks can create more currency. Bitcoin's issuance does not respond to price at all: more mining only raises the difficulty, not the supply.
Careful with models
"Stock-to-flow" price models turn this ratio into price predictions. Scarcity is a fact; price predictions from it are not. Demand decides price.
Also note: some coins are lost forever (forgotten keys), so the usable supply is somewhat lower than the issued amount, but no one can measure exactly how much.