Binance Founder CZ: Over 20.07 Million Bitcoins Mined, Only About 4.4% Left to Mine
Binance founder CZ stated that as of August 2026, over 20.07 million Bitcoins have been mined, with only about 4.4% of the supply left to mine.
He estimates that 10% to 20% of existing Bitcoins are lost, stuck, or unrecoverable, and directly characterizes Bitcoin as a deflationary asset.
The total supply cap for Bitcoin is 21 million, with over 95% already mined and a daily issuance of about 450 Bitcoins. The next halving is expected in 2028, reducing the block reward from 3.125 BTC to 1.5625 BTC.
Independent estimates show that the number of permanently lost Bitcoins ranges from 2.3 million to 4 million, with the effective circulating supply potentially dropping to between 15.8 million and 17.5 million, far below the total on-chain mined amount.
Sources of loss include early private key loss, hard drive damage, wallets without heirs, and unspendable addresses, with Satoshi-related addresses holding about 1 million to 1.1 million Bitcoins that have remained inactive for a long time.
This statement reflects an event-driven perspective, reinforcing the narrative of Bitcoin's scarcity, attracting long-term holding capital inflows, benefiting existing holders and hoarding institutions, while putting pressure on high-inflation fiat assets and tokens with unlimited supply.
Source: Public Information
ABAB AI Insight
Since founding Binance, CZ has continuously emphasized Bitcoin's monetary attributes, previously discussing the potential freezing of dormant coins under quantum threats and comparing data loss in exchange custody versus self-custody, with the core logic always revolving around effective supply contraction rather than nominal totals.
In terms of capital pathways, he promotes Bitcoin liquidity through the exchange ecosystem and the BNB chain, while personally and through related entities holding Bitcoin long-term; his viewpoints directly serve to strengthen the "digital gold" positioning, reducing the market's relative attractiveness to inflationary assets.
Similar cases can be seen in Satoshi's early remarks about "loss equating to donation" and repeated reports of lost coins from institutions like River, Ledger, and Chainalysis; currently, Bitcoin has entered a phase where over 95% of the supply is released, transitioning the industry from a high-inflation issuance period to a low-inflation scarcity realization period.
Essentially, this represents a transfer of pricing power driven by technological substitution: a fixed cap combined with ongoing losses creates a dual deflationary mechanism, giving Bitcoin a structural advantage over fiat currencies and most crypto assets in terms of long-term purchasing power protection, with the mechanism rooted in the unchangeable issuance rules at the protocol level and the irreversible losses on-chain.
ABAB News · Cognitive Laws
Loss equals permanent deflation
Nominal supply masks effective scarcity
Cap is just the starting point; loss is the endpoint