Bitcoins are created by “mining”. “Miners” are people or companies using sophisticated computer hardware to solve complex mathematical problems and getting rewarded for this work with newly created batches of Bitcoins. These new batches are called blocks.
Currently, 12.5 Bitcoins are created in each block. New blocks are mined about every 10 minutes (approx. 1,800 new Bitcoins daily). The maximum amount of Bitcoins that will ever exist is 21 million. The rate at which they are created will slow down considerably over time. Regularly, about every 4 years, the “block” size is halved. The next halving to 6.25 is expected to happen in May 2020.
A few years ago, mining Bitcoins used to be very profitable. It was possible for “Joe Average” to buy a piece of hardware and profitably mine Bitcoins. Nowadays, there’s a tough competition for a small number of coins. Often, the electricity needed to power the equipment is more expensive than the mined Bitcoins are even worth.
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