Bitcoin’s fourth halving event
Bitcoin’s fourth halving event occurred in April 2024, leading to a 50% reduction in supply inflation and an inherent increase in issuance scarcity. The halving reduced block rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC, constraining new supply and fueling demand.
Bitcoin Halving Year and Reward chart
According to a Glassnode report, 19,687,500 BTC have been mined and issued in the Fourth Epoch, accounting for 93.75% of the terminal supply of 21 million BTC. Thus, there are only 1,312,500 BTC to be issued during the next 126 years, with 656,600 (3.125%) issued during our present Epoch. The report explains that each halving represents a point where:
The percent of supply remaining equals the new block subsidy (3.125 BTC/block vs 3.125% remaining).
50% of the remaining supply (1.3125M BTC) will be mined between the fourth and fifth halving.
Bitcoin: Percent of 21 Million Supply Mined chart. Source: Glassnode
Bitcoin: Percent of 21 Million Supply Mined chart. Source: Glassnode
Moreover, the block subsidy is halved every 210,000 blocks, and the inflation rate is also halved roughly every four years. This puts the new annualized inflation rate of the Bitcoin supply at a value of 0.85%, down from 1.7% in the prior Epoch.
The fourth halving also marks a significant milestone in comparing Bitcoin to Gold as, for the first time in history, Bitcoin’s steady-state issuance rate (0.83%) became lower than Gold (~2.3%), marking a historic handover in the title of the scarcest asset.
Bitcoin vs. Gold Inflation Rate chart. Source: Glassnode
Bitcoin vs. Gold Inflation Rate chart. Source: Glassnode
In an exclusive interview with FXStreet, market-making firm Auros Managing Director Le Shi said that, based on past trends, Bitcoin is “still relatively early on” in the bullish cycle compared to other years in which there has been a halving event.
“I can’t predict that timing, but there are plenty of reasons to be very bullish for the remainder of this year – the three weeks remaining – as well as going into 2025,” Le said.
