12th Anniversary of the First Halving
On the 28th, it has been 12 years since the first halving of the cryptocurrency (virtual currency) Bitcoin (BTC).
Halving is the time when the block reward (= amount of new issuance) received by Bitcoin miners is halved. The first halving took place on November 28, 2012, when the block reward was reduced from 50 BTC to 25 BTC.
According to the plan, the block reward is halved approximately every four years. Bitcoin experienced its fourth halving in April this year, and the current block reward is 3.125 BTC.
At the time of the 2012 halving, the Bitcoin price was 1 BTC = about $12. At the time of writing, it is still in the highest price range, hovering around $95,000. Therefore, in the 12 years since the first halving, Bitcoin has increased in value by about 770,000%.
Especially now, with Trump, who supports virtual currencies, winning the presidential election, the Federal Reserve starting to cut interest rates, and the skyrocketing prices leading to a reduction in supply. Compared with last year, the price of Bitcoin has risen by more than 150%.
Bitcoin Supply
Not only does Bitcoin have a pre-set halving, but its maximum supply is also capped at 21 million BTC. Therefore, the last halving is expected to occur around 2140.
Twelve years have passed since the first halving, and the circulation of Bitcoin is about 19.79 million BTC. In other words, about 94% of the maximum supply has been issued so far. The remaining issuance is about 1.21 million BTC.
Bitcoin attention
With a decreasing supply and a cap on issuance, Bitcoin is becoming more valuable as an investment asset and store of value. Bitcoin is getting more attention than it has in the past (e.g. in 2012).
Recently, countries and companies have begun to pay attention to its value, and the movement to strategically buy and hold Bitcoin has become increasingly popular. For example, the United States has proposed a bill requiring the country to purchase Bitcoin. Behind these initiatives are concerns about inflation and currency depreciation, as well as the characteristics of Bitcoin.