Bitcoin crossed an important milestone Monday with 90% of the finite cryptocurrency being mined, according to Blockchain.com.
About 18.89 million bitcoins, out of a maximum of 21 million, have been mined and are now available to be bought and sold.
It took 12 years for the world's largest cryptocurrency by market cap to reach that goal after the first coins were mined on Jan. 9, 2009.
However, it will take exponentially longer for the remaining supply to mined due to bitcoin's halving schedule. The halving schedule is an inflationary control device where the reward for mining bitcoin is cut in half.
This also cuts in half bitcoin's inflation rate and the rate at which new bitcoins enter circulation.
Bitcoin halving occurs on average about once every four years after 210,000 blocks are mined. At that rate, bitcoin isn't expected to be fully mined until February 2140, according to CoinDesk.
Bitcoin's blockchain relies on the proof of work model, where miners solve complex mathematical equations that authenticate transactions on the blockchain. Those miners are rewarded with bitcoin.
However, with the halving schedules in place, their reward is cut in half at certain intervals, discouraging more mining as the cost of equipment and energy to mine can be prohibitive.
Bitcoin prices have taken a dive in recent weeks, falling more than 6% over the past five days and 26% over the past month.