This is the formula to calculate the total supply of Bitcoin that will ever exist. Let's break it down in simple terms:
• Σ (Sigma): This symbol means "summation," indicating that we'll be adding up a series of values.
• i = 0 to 32: This tells us the range of values for 'i' that we'll use in the calculation. We start at 0 and go up to 32.Essentially, this represents 33 cycles of Bitcoin mining, with each cycle lasting about four years.
• 210,000: This is the number of blocks mined in each cycle. A block is a group of Bitcoin transactions that are verified and added to the blockchain (the public record of all Bitcoin transactions).
• 50 / 2^i: This part calculates the block reward for each cycle.
• In the first cycle (i = 0), the block reward is 50 Bitcoins.
• In the second cycle (i = 1), the block reward is halved to 25 Bitcoins.
• This halving continues with each cycle, gradually decreasing the rate at which new Bitcoins are created.
In summary:
The formula calculates the total Bitcoin supply by adding up the number of Bitcoins created in each of the 33 cycles. The number of Bitcoins created in each cycle is found by multiplying the number of blocks mined (210,000) by the block reward for that cycle, which is halved with each successive cycle.