Bitcoin halving events are a big deal. Each time, the number of new bitcoins generated and earned by miners is cut in half, which has historically led to a massive increase in the price of bitcoin, creating incredible opportunities for traders and investors. Understanding the basic mechanics of bitcoin halving events, including what is Bitcoin halving, is a good start, but knowing the specific dates will help you prepare for the next halving and its potential impacts on the bitcoin market. This article will provide a handy list of bitcoin halving dates and help you understand the impacts that these events may have on future bitcoin prices.
Analyzing historical Bitcoin halving events provides insight into what may happen after the next halving. Bitcoin Magazine Pro’s Bitcoin analysis can help you achieve your goals by providing clear and actionable reports on the state of Bitcoin before and after the halving.
What is the Significance of the Bitcoin Halving?
The reward miners receive for including transactions into a block is not permanent. The halving occurs after every 210,000 blocks are mined. This event happens about once every four years and is called “halving.”
New Bitcoins are created on the Bitcoin blockchain as a reward for keeping it running by verifying transactions and adding them to blocks. This process is called mining. The miner who was the first to solve a complex mathematical problem adds transactions to the block and receives a reward that includes a certain fixed amount of newly created Bitcoins plus fees for transactions included in the block. A new block is added approximately every ten minutes. Thus, the amount of Bitcoins increases by a certain amount every ten minutes.
Understanding Bitcoin Halving and Its Impact on Supply
Bitcoin halving is an event pre-programmed by the Bitcoin algorithm that cuts the number of new Bitcoins in the mentioned above block reward in half. When Bitcoin was first launched, the block reward was 50 BTC. Since the halving event has occurred three times since then, the current block reward is 6.25 BTC.
Halving is a slow and predictable process of decreasing the number of newly created Bitcoins that will continue until the influx of new coins into the Bitcoin network is reduced to zero.
When Is Bitcoin Halving?
Bitcoin halving is an event programmed to happen at a certain frequency. And although its exact time can't be predicted in advance, the closer it is, the more accurate the date forecast is.
Bitcoin halvings are triggered not by date but by the length of the Bitcoin blockchain. The Bitcoin algorithm is designed so that a Bitcoin halving event occurs after every 210,000 blocks mined. Since one block's addition occurs approximately every ten minutes, halvings happen roughly every four years.
What Is the Significance of the Bitcoin Halving?
Miners receive 50% less Bitcoin as a reward for their work. Block reward halving is a key feature of Bitcoin’s monetary policy, which was implemented to control the inflation rate, ensure its scarcity, and increase its value over time.
Each Bitcoin halving event reduces the number of new Bitcoins produced per block. Resulting in a lower supply. Bitcoin was created as a deflationary currency similar to gold. As it becomes scarcer and demand increases, the price likely increases in line with supply and demand economics.
The Role of Bitcoin Halving in Supply Scarcity and Price Dynamics
Halving Bitcoin will ultimately cap the total supply of Bitcoin to 21 million coins. Each Bitcoin has 100,000,000 satoshis in it. This fixed supply is one of the fundamental characteristics that differentiate Bitcoin from traditional fiat currencies, which can face inflationary pressures due to central bank policies.
These scarcity-driven price dynamics have historically played a role in Bitcoin’s price appreciation after each halving event. It will be interesting to see how future halving events will impact Bitcoin’s price.
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Complete List of Bitcoin Halving Dates & Their Impact on the Market
According to the Bitcoin algorithm, there will be 32 halvings, after which the fixed part of the block reward will become less than one satoshi (the smallest unit of Bitcoin). It will be equal to zero. Four halvings have already taken place.
Let's take a closer look at the Bitcoin halving countdown list:
Pre-halving period
The halving countdown for Bitcoin is a pivotal moment that occurs approximately every four years. The halving formula, designed to reduce block rewards by 50%, marks the Genesis Block's historical mining on 3 January 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto, the coin's enigmatic creator.
The creator of Bitcoin set the initial block reward at 50 BTC. Since Bitcoin had no monetary value in those days, there was no real incentive to participate in mining, and Satoshi was almost the only miner. However, as early as 17 March 2010, BitcoinMarket.com became the first-ever Bitcoin exchange. That caused a surge of interest in the new currency, and in the spring of 2011, the price of Bitcoin surpassed $1.
Although 50% of available Bitcoins were mined within that rather short period before the first halving and the supply of Bitcoin grew fairly rapidly, Bitcoin's price at that stage increased from $0 to $12.
|
Date |
3 January 2009 |
|
Block number |
0 |
|
Block reward, BTC |
50 |
|
BTC created per day |
7200 |
|
BTC price at the start |
N/A |
|
BTC price 100 days later |
N/A |
|
BTC price 1 year later |
N/A |
Bitcoin Halving 2012: The First Halving
Before the first halving on November 28, 2012, the block reward was set at 50 BTC. After the event, the reward was reduced to 25 BTC per block. Bitcoin mining software Slush Pool was the first to mine the block using a Radeon HD 5800 miner. Here are the details of the exact block where the reward decreased from 50 BTC to 25 BTC.
|
Date |
28 November 2012 |
|
Block number |
210,000 |
|
Block reward, BTC |
25 |
|
BTC created per day |
3600 |
|
BTC price at the start |
$12 |
|
BTC price 100 days later |
$42 |
|
BTC price 1 year later |
$964 |
Bitcoin Halving 2016: The Second Halving
The second halving occurred on July 9, 2016. Prior to the halving, the new BTC per block was 25. It was reduced to 12.5 BTC per block.
|
Date |
9 July 2016 |
|
Block number |
420,000 |
|
Block reward, BTC |
12.50 |
|
BTC created per day |
1,800 |
|
BTC price at the start |
$663 |
|
BTC price 100 days later |
$609 |
|
BTC price 1 year later |
$2550 |
Bitcoin Halving 2020: The Third Halving
The third halving event occurred on May 11, 2020. This last Bitcoin halving event reduced the block reward from 12.5 BTC to 6.25 BTC.
- Block number: 420,000
- Block reward: 12.5 BTC
- BTC created per day: 1,800 BTC
- BTC price before the halving date: $663
- BTC price a year later: $2,500
Bitcoin Halving 2024: The Fourth Halving
The fourth halving occurred at 840,000 based on the block time of around 10 minutes. It’ll brought the block reward down to 3.125 BTC.
The fourth halving event occurred on April 20th, 2024
- Block number: 840,000
- Block reward: 3.125 BTC
- BTC created per day: 450 BTC
- New total supply of Bitcoin: 656,250
Bitcoin Halving 2028: The Fifth Halving
The fifth halving is expected to occur on March 26th, 2028. Block number: 950,000. Block reward: 1.5625 BTC. BTC created per day: Estimated to be 225 BTC. BTC price before the halving date: $61,100. New total supply of Bitcoin: 328,125.
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What Happens When All Bitcoins Are Mined?
As Bitcoin approaches its supply limit, the consequences will be fascinating. The closer we get to this milestone, the more Bitcoin will resemble a traditional currency, with fewer coins entering circulation.
Even once we reach this limit, it’s unlikely that the total supply of Bitcoin will precisely equal 21 million. This is because reward calculations can lead to rounding errors, especially at the smaller fractions of Bitcoin, known as satoshis.
Life After the Last Bitcoin Is Mined
The last Bitcoin is projected to be mined around the year 2140. Once all available Bitcoins have been mined, miners will no longer receive block rewards for validating transactions. Instead, their earnings will come exclusively from transaction fees paid by network users.
This transition is expected to alter the economics of Bitcoin mining significantly. Without block rewards, miners’ profitability will rely entirely on these fees, which could lead to changes in mining operations and impact the overall security and efficiency of the Bitcoin network. As transaction fees become the primary incentive for miners, the structure and dynamics of the Bitcoin ecosystem may evolve in ways that are difficult to predict.
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