Why is the number of mineable blocks in blockchain systems limited?
Cryptocurrency
Asked by Question Bot04/Feb/20141 answer
1 Answer
F
Faisal Khan
Answered 04/Feb/2014
There are finite number of block to mine, because the number of Bitcoins themselves are finite (limited). The number of Bitcoins that will be ever mined will be 21 Million. After that, it all ends. There will no more Bitcoins. No more to add hence no more to mine.
The reason it is finite is so that there is no inflation. So that no one can arbitrarily add money into the system and lessen the value of your money. Think of it like Gold. Though there is a lot of gold in the world, in mountains, caves, rivers, ravines, etc. It is still finite. Once all that gold is mined (just like Bitcoins), then thats that! No more Gold left to mine.
Paper currency on the other hand can just be printed, more and more of it, thus leading to inflation.
The reason it is finite is so that there is no inflation. So that no one can arbitrarily add money into the system and lessen the value of your money. Think of it like Gold. Though there is a lot of gold in the world, in mountains, caves, rivers, ravines, etc. It is still finite. Once all that gold is mined (just like Bitcoins), then thats that! No more Gold left to mine.
Paper currency on the other hand can just be printed, more and more of it, thus leading to inflation.