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Satoshi Gazette
Glossary

Issued supply at a block

All the bitcoin the subsidy schedule has allowed from the genesis block through a given height, computed from the height alone. 21 million is the limit it approaches, not a current figure.

Protocol and network

Definition dated

also scheduled issuance · issued supply

Issued supply is protocol arithmetic, not an estimate. Add the subsidy of every height from the genesis block to height h, in whole satoshis as Bitcoin Core computes it, and that is the figure: 19,687,500 BTC through block 839,999, then 3.125 BTC more for each block after it.

It is the denominator the Holdings tab uses, pinned to one block so anyone can check it. It is deliberately the schedule rather than the coins that can move: it includes the genesis block's 50 BTC, which can never be spent, and the coins lost when two early coinbase transactions duplicated earlier ones, before BIP 30 forbade it. Leaving them in makes every holder's share slightly smaller, which keeps a floor conservative.

A node with coinstatsindex can itemise the difference: gettxoutsetinfo lists the genesis, BIP 30, unspendable-script and unclaimed-reward amounts separately.

Common misreadings3

  • People say

    21 million bitcoin exist

    Precisely

    21 million is the cap the schedule approaches, 20,999,999.9769 BTC in whole satoshis. The supply at any block is lower and grows by one subsidy per block.

  • People say

    Issued supply is what can be spent

    Precisely

    It counts every subsidy the schedule allowed, including the genesis block's unspendable 50 BTC and coins that are lost. The UTXO set's total is lower.

  • People say

    Supply is a figure for a date

    Precisely

    It is fixed by a block height. Two sources quoting the same day can be some blocks apart.