Compare two creation rules: money with no fixed ceiling and Bitcoin, capped at 21 million under its protocol. Understand the halving and the limits of this comparison.
Bitcoin comes up constantly in money-printing debates, usually with plenty of noise and few numbers. This page explains why the comparison has a precise technical meaning, what it actually shows, and above all where it breaks down. This is not investment advice.
The total number of bitcoins that will ever exist is capped at 21 million, written into the protocol back in 2009. Issuance follows block counts under the current protocol rules; future calendar dates are estimates.
A currency's money supply has no ceiling. It adjusts with the credit banks extend and with central bank policy, up or down, in response to economic conditions.
The Bitcoin price and the money supply of the selected currency over the same period, so you can see which moved faster.
Current protocol rules limit issuance to about 21 million bitcoins. This cap concerns the number of BTC, not their price in euros. Price depends on market supply and demand.
Every 210,000 blocks, the reward in new bitcoins per block halves. A block is a group of transactions added to the ledger. This happens about every four years, but future dates are estimates: blocks do not follow a perfectly regular clock.
At a hypothetical €50,000 per BTC, 0.02 BTC is worth €1,000. At €25,000 per BTC it is worth €500. The quantity held and the protocol cap are unchanged, but the resale value has fallen.
New bitcoins are still being created. A capped supply guarantees neither a stable price nor protection against inflation. To understand what an investment can buy, also consider its price, the period, fees and taxes.
The nominal result compares purchase and resale values. The price-adjusted result compares their purchasing power. For the money-supply comparison, the value of your bitcoins in the selected currency represents a slice of the money pie at each date. Historical average prices are not your exact transaction prices. Fees and taxes can change your personal result.