What is the Bitcoin Halving (Halvening)?

New bitcoins are issued by the Bitcoin network every 10 minutes. For the first four years of Bitcoin's existence, the amount of new bitcoins issued every 10 minutes was 50. Every four years, this number is cut in half. The day the amount halves is called a "halving" or "halvening".

In 2012, the amount of new bitcoins issued every 10 minutes dropped from 50 bitcoins to 25. In 2016, it dropped from 25 to 12.5. In the most recent May 11, 2020 halving, the reward dropped from 12.5 to 6.25 BTC per block.

In the 2024 halving, the reward will drop from 6.25 BTC per block to 3.125 BTC.

Bitcoin Halving Time Clock

What is the Significance of the Bitcoin Block Halving?

The halving decreases the amount of new bitcoins generated per block. This means the supply of new bitcoins is lower, making buying more expensive.

In normal markets, lower supply with steady demand usually leads to higher prices. Since the halving reduces the supply of new bitcoins, and demand usually remains steady, the halving has usually preceded some of Bitcoin's largest runs.

In the image below, the vertical blue lines indicate the previous three halvings (2012-11-28, 2016-7-9 and 2020-5-11). Note how the price has jumped significantly after each halving.

Bitcoin Halving Schedule

The Bitcoin halving is scheduled in block height, not date.

The halving happens every 210,000 blocks. The 2024 halving will happen on block 840,000.

What Happens to Miners During Halvings?

Many always speculate that miners will shut down after the halving. The reality is most miners are very smart and price in the halving, so they don't end up shutting down any miners.

When is the 2024 Bitcoin Halving?

The 2024 halving will likely occur between April 2024 to May 2024. Bitcoin Halving is always depends on Blocks counting and as per that, dates are describes always for calculation purpose on average blocks mining per day.

BITCOIN HALVING DATES HISTORY

This section will take a look at the previous three halving with detailed data given below-

2012 Halving

The 2012 block halving was the first halving and happened on November 28th, 2012. The halving block was mined by SlushPool by someone using a Radeon HD 5800 miner.

New BTC Per Block Before: 50 BTC per block

New BTC Per Block After: 25 BTC per block

Price on Halving Day: $12.35

Price 150 Days Later: $127.00

2016 Halving

The second halving occurred on July 9th, 2016.

New BTC Per Block Before: 25 BTC per block

New BTC Per Block After: 12.5 BTC per block

Price on Halving Day: $650.63

Price 150 Days Later: $758.81

2020 Halving

The third halving occurred on May 11, 2020.

New BTC Per Block Before: 12.5 BTC per block

New BTC Per Block After: 6.25 BTC per block

Price on Halving Day: $8821.42

Price 150 Days Later: $10,943.00

Current Bitcoin Block Subsidy

The current Bitcoin block subsidy is 6.25 bitcoins per block. When block 840,000 is hit in 2024, the subsidy will drop to 3.125 bitcoins (BTC) per block.

Bitcoin Halving Parties

Thousands of Bitcoiners across the world celebrated the 2016 halving. There were parties in major cities and countries like Melbourne, Australia, Montreal, Canada, NYC, USA, London, UK, Dublin, Paris and dozens of other cities.

When party events are posted, we'll keep track of them here!

When Will All 21 Million Bitcoins be Mined?

All 21 million bitcoins (BTC) will be mined by 2140. But more than 98% will be mined by 2030.

Is the Halving Necessary?

The halving is necessary. This is how Bitcoin controls its supply. Once the block subsidy expires, transaction fees will pay miners for securing the network.

Why Our Estimates Are the Most Accurate

Most of the other halving date estimators use 10 minute blocks to calculate the estimated halving date.

Blocks, however, have been mined at less than 10 minute intervals for almost all of Bitcoin's history.

Bitcoin calculator uses live blockchain data to get the average block time for the past two months. It then uses this block time (currently 9.3666666666 minutes between blocks) to estimate the halving date.

Disclaimer Remarks-

While most of the other sites estimate the halving for late-May, the more likely outcome is an early-May reward halving.

#DYOR #feedfeverchallenge