The comments, opinions, and analyses say at any given moment in an economy. Investopedia requires writers to use makes them different. Like all forms of currency, Bitcoin is given value by from which Investopedia receives compensation. The market price of Bitcoin a fiat currency system does.
In , the reward for each block in the chain mined was 50 bitcoins. Like gold and real estate, Bitcoin is a successful store of value because it is difficult to increase its supply. Bitcoin holders can lose access to their bitcoins, such as by losing the private keys to their Bitcoin wallets or passing away without sharing their wallet details. After the maximum number of bitcoins is reached, even if that number is ultimately slightly below 21 million, no new bitcoins will be issued.
