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Addressing errata 151321

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Andreas M. Antonopoulos 2015-02-23 18:47:17 -05:00
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@ -24,7 +24,12 @@ In this chapter, we will first examine mining as a monetary supply mechanism and
((("currency creation", id="ix_ch08-asciidoc2", range="startofrange")))((("mining","currency creation", id="ix_ch08-asciidoc3", range="startofrange")))Bitcoins are "minted" during the creation of each block at a fixed and diminishing rate. Each block, generated on average every 10 minutes, contains entirely new bitcoins, created from nothing. Every 210,000 blocks, or approximately every four years, the currency issuance rate is decreased by 50%. For the first four years of operation of the network, each block contained 50 new bitcoins.
In November 2012, the new bitcoin issuance rate was decreased to 25 bitcoins per block and it will decrease again to 12.5 bitcoins at block 420,000, which will be mined sometime in 2016. The rate of new coins decreases like this exponentially over 64 "halvings" until block 13,230,000 (mined approximately in year 2137), when it reaches the minimum currency unit of 1 satoshi. Finally, after 13.44 million blocks, in approximately 2140, all 2,099,999,997,690,000 satoshis, or almost 21 million bitcoins, will be issued. Thereafter, blocks will contain no new bitcoins, and miners will be rewarded solely through the transaction fees. <<bitcoin_money_supply>> shows the total bitcoin in circulation over time, as the issuance of currency decreases.
In November 2012, the new bitcoin issuance rate was decreased to 25 bitcoins per block and it will decrease again to 12.5 bitcoins at block 420,000, which will be mined sometime in 2016. The rate of new coins decreases like this exponentially over 64 "halvings" until block 13,230,000 (mined approximately in year 2137), when it reaches the minimum currency unit of 1 satoshi. Finally, after 13.44 million blocks, in approximately 2140, almost 2,099,999,997,690,000 satoshis, or almost 21 million bitcoins, will be issued. Thereafter, blocks will contain no new bitcoins, and miners will be rewarded solely through the transaction fees. <<bitcoin_money_supply>> shows the total bitcoin in circulation over time, as the issuance of currency decreases.
[NOTE]
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The maximum number of coins mined is the _upper limit_ of possible mining rewards for bitcoin. In practice, a miner may intentionally mine a block taking less than the full reward. Such blocks have already been mined and more may be mined in the future resulting in a lower total issuance of the currency
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In the example code in <<max_money>>, we calculate the total amount of bitcoin that will be issued.