Why is there going to be only 21 million bitcoins in circulation? Bitcoin production will stop at 21 million bitcoins. Why 21 million and why was the limit put in place?
By limiting the amount of bit coin in the market one can hedge against inflation and avoid the firey demise coming to the rest of the world's fiat currencies. Though bit coin is not backed by any "hard money" it has a natural scarcity that will help keep its value consistent.