Miners process transactions and receive fees from users (supply-side fees).

Bitcoin is a distributed ledger for transfer and store of value (a blockchain). Bitcoin was founded by a pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto and launched in 2009.

BTC holders own and govern the protocol. They currently do not take a cut of the total transaction fees paid by users (revenue).

github

block explorer

Blockchains (L1)

Bitcoin

# Bitcoin Maximum token supply Methodology

## 1. Overview

Bitcoin's maximum token supply represents the total number of bitcoins that will ever exist according to Bitcoin's protocol rules. This metric provides a constant value of 21 million BTC, which is hardcoded into Bitcoin's monetary policy and represents the absolute upper limit of bitcoins that can be mined. The metric answers the fundamental question of Bitcoin's scarcity by providing the protocol-defined supply cap that makes Bitcoin a deflationary digital asset.

## 2. Data sources

The calculation relies on Bitcoin protocol constants rather than dynamic blockchain data:
- **Bitcoin protocol specification**: The hardcoded maximum supply limit of 21 million BTC defined in Bitcoin's consensus rules
- **Bitcoin Genesis Block**: The timestamp of Bitcoin's launch (January 3, 2009) when the first block was mined
- **Bitcoin monetary policy**: The algorithmic rules that govern Bitcoin's supply schedule and maximum cap

## 3. Step-by-step calculation

### Component A: Protocol constants definition
- **Purpose**: Define the fundamental Bitcoin protocol constants for maximum supply reporting
- **Logic**: The calculation uses three fixed values: the Bitcoin launch timestamp set to January 3, 2009 at 00:00:00 UTC (corresponding to the Genesis Block creation), a daily timestamp grain for consistent reporting intervals, and the maximum token supply set to exactly 21,000,000 BTC as defined by Bitcoin's protocol
- **Key fields**: `timestamp` contains the launch date, `timestamp_grain` specifies daily reporting frequency, and `token_supply_maximum` holds the 21 million BTC protocol limit

### Final aggregation
- **Standardization**: The protocol constants are processed through a finalization macro that standardizes the output format for consistent reporting across Token Terminal's metrics
- **Time series creation**: A fill-forward strategy creates a complete daily time series from Bitcoin's launch date onwards, where each day shows the same maximum supply value
- **Data identification**: The metric is tagged with `bitcoin` as the data identifier to distinguish it from other blockchain protocols
- **Final calculation**: The result is a time series showing 21,000,000 BTC as the maximum token supply for every day since Bitcoin's launch, representing the immutable protocol-level supply cap that will never change regardless of actual circulating supply or mining activity

*This methodology was automatically generated by Token Terminal's methodology analyzer.*

Maximum number of tokens that can exist under the current token economics.

BitcoinBTC

Maximum token supply

Maximum token supply

Competitive landscape