WHAT IS BITCOIN HALVING
Bitcoin halving is an event where the reward for mining new blocks is halved, meaning miners receive 50% fewer bitcoins for verifying transactions ¹. Here are some key points to know about Bitcoin halving ² ³ ¹:
Frequency: Bitcoin halvings occur once every 210,000 blocks, roughly every four years, until the maximum supply of 21 million bitcoins has been generated by the network.
Purpose: The halving is designed to reduce the rate at which new coins are created and thus lower the available amount of new supply.
Block reward: The block reward will fall from 6.25 to 3.125 bitcoins during the next halving.
Impact: The halving has major implications for the network, including reducing the number of new bitcoins being generated, potentially leading to a rise in price if demand remains strong, and impacting miners' profitability.
Next halving: The next bitcoin halving is expected to occur in April 2024, when the number of blocks hits 740,000.
Previous halvings: The first halving occurred on November 28, 2012, reducing the block reward from 50 to 25 bitcoins. The second halving occurred on July 9, 2016, reducing the block reward from 25 to 12.5 bitcoins. The third halving occurred on May 11, 2020, reducing the block reward from 12.5 to 6.25 bitcoins.