Assets, Ethereum

Is There a Limit on Ethereum Coins?

Ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, is no stranger to big changes. In the past year alone, Ethereum has seen its price skyrocket from $8 to over $1,000, and it doesn’t show signs of slowing down anytime soon. With such explosive growth, one has to wonder: is there a limit on Ethereum coins?

It’s important to first understand how Ethereum works before diving into whether or not there is a limit on Ethereum coins. Ethereum is a decentralized platform that runs smart contracts: applications that run exactly as programmed without any possibility of fraud or third party interference.

These apps run on a custom built blockchain, an enormously powerful shared global infrastructure that can move value around and represent ownership of property.

This infrastructure is what we call the “Ethereum Virtual Machine” or “EVM”. Developers can use the EVM to create decentralized applications that run exactly as programmed without any possibility of fraud or third party interference.

The EVM is fueled by ether, which is the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum network. Ether is used to pay for transaction fees and computational services on the Ethereum network.

So, now that we know how Ethereum works, let’s answer the question: is there a limit on Ethereum coins? The answer is no.

NOTE: WARNING: There is no hard limit on the number of Ethereum coins (ETH) that can exist, so it is important to be aware of this when investing in Ethereum. The total supply of ETH is limited only by the rate at which they are mined. As such, it is possible that the total supply could increase significantly over time if miners are able to successfully mine more ETH. Be sure to do your research and be aware of the potential risks before investing in Ethereum.

There is no limit to the amount of ether that can be created. However, there is a hard cap on the total supply of ETH tokens at 120 million ETH.

This number was chosen by the Ethereum Foundation and it cannot be changed.

Of this 120 million ETH, 90% will be mined by miners who secure the network and process transactions. The other 10% will be sold to early backers of the project in a public crowdsale.

This crowdsale raised over 31,000 BTC in 2014, worth around $18 million at today’s prices.

So, while there is no limit on the amount of ether that can be created, there is a finite supply of ETH tokens. Once all 120 million ETH are mined, that will be the maximum supply of ETH tokens in existence.

This hard cap on ETH tokens ensures that miners have an incentive to keep securing the network as they will continue to earn rewards in newly minted ETH tokens for doing so. It also means that Ether will have scarcity built into its design, which could help drive up demand and price over time.

Whether or not Ethereum will be successful in the long term remains to be seen. But one thing’s for sure: with such a big change already happening in just a few short years, it’s anyone’s guess what tomorrow might bring for this digital currency pioneer.

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