What is a Bitcoin block halving event?
Block halving events happen every 4 years or 210,000 blocks on Bitcoin blockchain. Bitcoin's initial block reward was 50 BTC. The current block reward is 6.25 BTC, the next block reward will be 3.125 BTC. This lowers the rate at which Bitcoins are generated. The halving is periodical and is programmed into Bitcoin's code.
Why was this done?
Conventional FIAT currencies allow governments or banks to print money and cause inflation. In Bitcoin's case, the total supply will be maxed out at 21,000,000 BTC. Printing extra money causes inflation, if there is no extra money printed, the value of the Bitcoin should increase as the demand will rise (more people will start to use Bitcoin) and supply will lower or stay flat (no more Bitcoins are "printed"). This makes Bitcoin similar to gold, which has limited supply and cannot be "printed" or artificially created.
