<p>In a way, all bitcoins were issued with the genesis block: The total number was fixed and the distribution schedule defined with the rules put in place then. However, distributing them over a longer period of time allows for the bitcoins to be spread out more, creates incentives for miners to contribute work to the Bitcoin network and probably also helped fewer of them getting lost during the emergence of Bitcoin when many people just tried it briefly and likely didn't properly store their coins.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-17T09:10:29.657Z
Good points....
naz
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-17T08:46:54.097Z
2017-10-17T08:46:54.097Z
Murch
<p>What is the point of mining the Bitcoin and thus issuing new Bitcoins over the span of some time versus simply issuing all 21 million coins at once?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-17T09:57:36.697Z
Ask yourself this .... if they were all issued at once, who would they be issued to?
Nick Moore
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-17T10:02:49.647Z
Would be great if it was me.
naz
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-17T14:45:19.807Z
If they were all issued to you, they would be worthless. A currency's value comes from its being useful as a medium for multipe parties.
Pieter Wuille
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-17T14:49:16.983Z
That was a bad joke.
naz
<mining-theory><mining-reward><reward-schedule>
Why not issue all the Bitcoins at once
naz
# Why not issue all the Bitcoins at once

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-10-17)

What is the point of mining the Bitcoin and thus issuing new Bitcoins over the span of some time versus simply issuing all 21 million coins at once?

**Tags:** mining-theory, mining-reward, reward-schedule

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Ask yourself this .... if they were all issued at once, who would they be issued to?  
> **username_0**: Would be great if it was me.  
> **username_2**: If they were all issued to you, they would be worthless. A currency's value comes from its being useful as a medium for multipe parties.  
> **username_0**: That was a bad joke.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2017-10-17. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

In a way, all bitcoins were issued with the genesis block: The total number was fixed and the distribution schedule defined with the rules put in place then. However, distributing them over a longer period of time allows for the bitcoins to be spread out more, creates incentives for miners to contribute work to the Bitcoin network and probably also helped fewer of them getting lost during the emergence of Bitcoin when many people just tried it briefly and likely didn't properly store their coins.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Good points....  

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