The history of Bitcoin halvings - why this one may be different
Original: john316999 2024.04.08
Historically, each Bitcoin halving has occurred a year or two before a new all-time high, a deflationary mechanism specified in the Bitcoin code by Satoshi Nakamoto. This is partly because the halving cuts the block reward for miners in half, thereby reducing the production of new Bitcoins, theoretically making Bitcoin more scarce.
For example, with the upcoming halving, the block reward will be reduced from 6.25 Bitcoin (BTC) to 3.125 BTC.
The past three Bitcoin halvings occurred before setting all-time highs, followed by a price decline until the next halving, which triggered another round of gains, some market observers said. But the upcoming halving breaks this trend. For the first time in history, Bitcoin has set a new all-time high just before the halving, with the price breaking through $70,000 this month.
This article analyzes the Bitcoin price's response to previous halvings. Here’s what we found.
November 28, 2012: 50 BTC Halved to 25 BTC
Nearly four years after the Bitcoin genesis block, the network experienced its first halving.
Bitcoin’s nascent community had doubts about whether a slowing supply would drive up prices, or if the halving was already priced in, as a then-teenage Vitalik Buterin argued in Bitcoin Magazine. Bitcoin enthusiasts gathered at meetups around the world to celebrate the halving.
Before the first halving in November 2012, Bitcoin was trading at around $12, jumping to $229 in April 2013, and then rising to around $1,132 the following November, according to TradingView data.
