Even Maxis Underestimate Bitcoin's Scarcity

Varying perspectives on Bitcoin's scarcity pop up online and in conversation, and most, if not all, undersell Bitcoin's actual scarcity.

The following is a list of some of those perspectives, in increasing order of scarcity:

• Bitcoin is scarce
• Bitcoin is very scarce
• Bitcoin is more scarce than gold
• Bitcoin is more scarce than real estate and the stock market
• Bitcoin is the most scarce asset in the world

Even that last perspective underestimates just how scarce Bitcoin is.

How? Well... let me elaborate.

Consider any other scarce asset. Let's take diamonds for example. There are 1 billion carats in global reserves, 100 million more are added every year, and each carat goes for ~$5k on the open Market. Gold is similar, with >60 million pounds in global reserves, and more being added every year.

With Bitcoin, there are only 21 million that will ever exist. None more will ever be added.

As the adage goes, "The value of Bitcoin is ∞/21 million."

But Bitcoin's scarcity is actually even crazier than that. Given that the terms "bitcoins" and "sats" describe arbitrary units, there is actually only one singular unit and it is called Bitcoin. There is one and only one Bitcoin, and everyone and their mother is vying to get a tiny piece of that single unit.

The value of Bitcoin is NOT ∞/21 million. The value of Bitcoin is ∞/1.

And wouldn't you know.. it gets even crazier than that. In terms of scarcity, 1 item is the absolute limit to how scarce anything could possibly be. Not only is Bitcoin the most scarce asset in the world, it is mathematically the absolute most scarce that anything can possibly be. There is nothing else in the world with this quality, and given that there is no need for a second absolutely scarce resource, Bitcoin is and will remain the only thing in the world that is mathematically the absolute most scarce that anything can possibly be.