Pre on Nostr: In pete asks the question "Why 21 million" and Aaron does not know. I know. Do you ...

In https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXs3maguye4 pete asks the question "Why 21 million" and Aaron does not know.

I know.

Do you know?

There are 6 ten-minute blocks in an hour.

There are 24 hours in a day.

There are 365 days in a year.

That's 210240, rounded down to 210000 blocks per cycle.

The infinite sum of those halving rewards, starting at 50 and halving every 210000 blocks: 21000000.

Even if you decide to divide each Satoshi still further, and eek out sub-satoshi subsidy, the sum will never reach 21000001.

So it's 21 million because it starts at 50, and we have ten minute blocks, plus a halving every four years.

The magic numbers picked are 50 and 4, the rest comes from the calendar and maths. It's about the actual number of blocks in the revolution and an the orbit of the planet.