Everything You Need To Know About The Bitcoin Halving

6 min readSep 21, 2022

The Bitcoin halving event saw a 50% reduction in block reward. It is a word used in bitcoin mining and describes a scenario in which bitcoin miners receive fresh bitcoins as compensation, but the total amount decreases.

The miners’ payment for cracking a block includes both newly created bitcoins (mined coins) and transaction fees.

It may be confusing to refer to a reward as a “block reward” because it suggests that there is only one such payment per block. Each miner receives two rewards per block as a result of the fact that they are rewarded for solving two different problems.

The first problem, known as the “Proof-of-Work problem,” calls for finding a nonce that produces a specific result when hashed with the previous block header. The second problem calls for finding nonces until one yields a hash below a predetermined threshold (the so-called Proof-of-Stake problem).

How Bitcoins Halving Occurs?

When bitcoins are halved, miners only get half as many rewards for their work. For instance, one bitcoin you mine today would be worth $8500. If you mine one bitcoin after the occurrence of halving, it will be worth $4300.

This suggests that miners won’t make as much money as they formerly did, which could have a negative financial effect on them. However, due to increased scarcity and demand from investors who want to buy bitcoins before they become too expensive after the halving event occurs again in 2024, investors who had bitcoins before the halving event will experience considerable growth in their investments.

The maximum number of Bitcoins that can be mined, set at 21 million, will be reached in 2140 if current rates continue. The halving schedule was established to control how quickly new Bitcoins are created and put into circulation over time. By doing this, it is guaranteed that there will always be enough Bitcoins to meet demand and, over time, lower inflation.

The payout for mining a single block dropped from 50 Bitcoin to 25 Bitcoin in 2012, marking the first halving.

How Does Bitcoin Halving Work?

Blocks are mined into existence by drilling them and adding verified network transactions to them (mining).

Mining adds blocks to the network because they include proof-of-work hashes that must be solved by miners’ computers, which use potent hardware and run highly complex algorithms that consume enormous amounts of electricity to run continuously 24/7/365 without fail. Once they find an answer, other miners using the same hardware and software will verify it.

To guarantee that everyone is aware of what is going on and how much work has been accomplished, miners broadcast their discoveries to other miners when they uncover a solution.

Because obtaining these answers is so challenging, most miners don’t get paid for their efforts because someone else solves the block first. Therefore, most miners experience a financial loss due to overhead costs such as cooling systems and power supply, maintenance, and electricity bills.

Why Has The Price Of Bitcoin Increased Over The Years?

Since its launch in 2009, Bitcoin has been gradually increasing in value. It was developed as an alternative to conventional currencies not under the jurisdiction of any government or central banks, such as the US dollar or the euro.

This means that no one can debase currency like gold or silver coins or print more money to affect the value of these currencies (or even paper bills).

Bitcoin employs a technology known as blockchain to establish a truly decentralized system where nobody can control its value or supply — except for miners who win blocks by using their computers to solve challenging mathematical problems (called proof-of-work).

Miners receive compensation for their work because they must spend a lot of money on mining equipment and electricity costs, not to mention time, to compete with other miners for blocks.

For some miners, this would be challenging due to the lower reward for finding blocks, but others might be able to find ways to make up for this loss by increasing fees or selling more mining-related goods or services.

Bitcoin’s Halving Event: How Will The Price Change?

Since Bitcoin’s protocol operates differently than other cryptocurrencies, halvings occur every 210,000 blocks rather than every two years as initially intended.

Over time, the market’s response has varied. In actuality, the first three price halvings barely impacted Bitcoin values. After 2013, the fourth halving, we observed a considerable increase in value within a few months of it occurring, suggesting that there may be some correlation between price increases and halving events.

This time should be no different, given there hasn’t been a halving since November 2016; it ought to be much more thrilling than prior ones!

Why Does Bitcoin Halving Happen?

A currency that governments or central banks couldn’t control was the aim of Bitcoin’s design. Bitcoin does this using a decentralized network of miners who cooperate to create new blocks on the blockchain and approve transactions.

However, this system wouldn’t be worth the effort without a financial incentive! Fresh bitcoins are awarded to those who discover new blocks (which can then be sold in exchange for USD). But until no more new bitcoins are created, this prize is cut in half every four years.

Simply put, limit the supply of bitcoin and stop inflation. The total number of bitcoins that can ever be mined is 21 million; therefore, if there are no halves, current mining rates would take 40 years to achieve this ceiling. The reward is reduced by 50% every 210,000 blocks, or roughly every four years, keeping the daily production rate constant at 7200 bitcoins, and it will take 140 years to mine 21 million bitcoins altogether.

There Is No Central Authority In Bitcoin:

There is no central authority in Bitcoin. It employs a blockchain system instead, which is run by miners who use specialized software to solve math problems.

Decentralization is the foundation upon which the bitcoin network is based; neither a central bank nor a government oversees the currency. A computer network that verifies transactions and adds new bitcoins to the system instead of regulating the system, together with an open-source protocol.

However, how can we ensure there will ever be 21 million bitcoins? The system was created to replicate the supply of gold, which is why. Put another way; there will always be a set number of bitcoins in circulation.

What Happens When Every Bitcoin Is Mined?

Approximately 8 million bitcoins, worth over $9 billion, are now in use. However, the number of bitcoins in existence will never exceed 21 million.

This is due to a hard-coded limit that restricts the total number of bitcoins that can ever be mined to 21 million within the Bitcoin protocol. That cap will be reached by 2140 if the current pace continues.

Computers use mining to confirm network transactions by solving challenging arithmetic problems. Any transaction fees paid by users in the block are included in the reward given to the first miner that solves it, which is 12.5 BTC. Because of the lack of a single point of failure or authority over Bitcoin, this mechanism encourages miners to work for the network.

After all 21 million bitcoins have been mined, transaction fees will be used to keep miners motivated to maintain network security rather than fresh currency being created through mining blocks.

In Conclusion:

Bitcoin mining is capped, and to remain competitive, increasing miners and processing power are needed. This will eventually lead to the mining of an increasing number of bitcoins. One of the main distinctions between conventional fiat currencies and bitcoin is this inflation. As a result, once every 210,000 blocks are mined, the rate at which new bitcoins are added falls. This schedule of halves will carry on until there are a maximum of 21 million bitcoins in circulation.