Bitcoin Halving FAQ
Unlike FIAT currency, Bitcoin has a finite amount of coins that will ever get released.
This amount is 21 million, and so far more than 18 million have been released.
However, less and less Bitcoin gets released over time as the reward gets reduced to half approximately every four years.
This process is known as Bitcoin halving, and it serves the purpose of preventing inflation.
Bitcoin halving happens after each 210 000 blocks mined, so the date is not always exact, but as we mentioned before- it happens approximately every 4 years.
Before the first halving, when Bitcoin just started- the block reward was 50 new Bitcoins for every block.
In 2012 the first halving happened, cutting the reward to 25 Bitcoins per new block.
In 2016 another halving happened, cutting the reward to 12.5 new Bitcoins per block.
In 2020, another halving happened, this time cutting the reward to 6.25.
The Bitcoin halving process will continue happening approximately every 4 years until the block reward gets to 0 Bitcoins.
The estimated date of this last Bitcoin halving should happen in 2140.
If you’re more of a visual person, you may prefer charts and other visual explanations.
Bitcoin halving dates spreadsheet:
| Halving date | Block reward after halving |
| 2012 | 25 |
| 2016 | 12.5 |
| 2020 | 6.25 |
| 2024 | 3.125 |
| 2028 | 1.5625 |
| 2032 | 0.78125 |
| 2036 | 0.390625 |
| 2040 | 0.1953125 |
| 2044 | 0.09765625 |
| 2048 | 0.048828125 |
| 2052 | 0.024414063 |
| 2056 | 0.012207031 |
| 2060 | 0.006103516 |
| 2064 | 0.003051758 |
| 2068 | 0.001525879 |
| 2072 | 0.000762939 |
| 2076 | 0.00038147 |
| 2080 | 0.000190735 |
| 2084 | 9.53674E-05 |
| 2088 | 4.76837E-05 |
| 2092 | 2.38419E-05 |
| 2096 | 1.19209E-05 |
| 2100 | 5.96046E-06 |
| 2104 | 2.98023E-06 |
| 2108 | 1.49012E-06 |
| 2112 | 7.45058E-07 |
| 2116 | 3.72529E-07 |
| 2120 | 1.86265E-07 |
| 2124 | 9.31323E-08 |
| 2128 | 4.65661E-08 |
| 2132 | 2.32831E-08 |
| 2136 | 1.16415E-08 |
| 2140 | 5.82077E-09 |
The next Bitcoin halving will most likely happen on May 09, 2024.
As mentioned before, the halving is not date-based but is based on mined blocks(every 210 000), so the exact date and time may vary.
Still, it’s clear that the next Bitcoin halving will happen in mid-2024, and most predictions are estimating May 09 or May 10, 2024.
Bitcoin halving is a big deal in BTC and crypto circles. However, there’s no direct connection between Bitcoin halving and Bitcoin price.
In other words, the Bitcoin market is a market for itself, and no one can predict the Bitcoin price with 100% certainty.
Still, logic and history can be applied to Bitcoin halving and certain conclusions can be drawn.
After each BTC halving, the miners’ reward gets cut in half.
And when you cut their reward to half, this means their earnings will be cut in half as well.
A drop in earnings of 50% is usually enough to put most companies and individuals out of business.
But luckily, the crypto market was usually supportive of miners, increasing prices to cover their loss.
Read below to see what happened after previous halvings in 2012 and 2016.
The halving in 2012 was the first Bitcoin halving and happened after block 210 000 was mined.
The exact date of this halving was 2012-11-28 at 15:24:38 UTC, and as soon as it happened, the Bitcoin reward dropped to 25 Bitcoins mined per every new block.
The price of Bitcoin on this halving date was around $13, and half a year later it reached around $130.
While there’s no direct connection between Bitcoin halving in 2012 and Bitcoin price increase in early 2013, it gives us hope that similar may happen after each halving.
The second Bitcoin halving happened on July 9, 2016, cutting the miners’ reward from 25 Bitcoins to 12.5 Bitcoins released after every block.
The closing price on the date of the second Bitcoin halving was $650.96.
After small oscillations from July 9, 2016, till Oct 30, 2016, Bitcoin achieved a price of $700 and started gaining price momentum.
On Jan 01, 2017, it reached $1000+ for the first time, and this was the start of the biggest crypto bubble that Earth has witnessed.
On December 17, 2017, Bitcoin’s price reached $20,089.00 before multiple crashes and what we now know as two strong supports- $3600 and $6000 approximately.
Worst case scenario- we saw an increase of 500% in Bitcoin price since the last BTC halving.
The 2020 Bitcoin halving happened in May of 2020.
At this time, the miner’s reward was reduced from 12.5 Bitcoins released after every block, to just 6.25.
By the end of 2020, we saw Bitcoin’s price increase to almost $30000.
And in November of 2021, Bitcoin’s price reached almost $70000.
Long story short- the Earth should still spin.
Long story long- no one can predict this for sure.
History says that Bitcoin halving may impose large gains for Bitcoin holders.
It’s kind of clear when we take a look at what happened in 2012, 2016, and 2020.
But Bitcoin market can’t be predicted with equations.
Of course, it can be presented, but the presentation always captures what we know until that point.
If Bitcoin halving happens in 2024 and Bitcoin goes to $0 the day after(or even tomorrow, regardless of BTC halving)- there’s no one to blame.
There are so many possible scenarios that I think it’s best to stop here.
In my humble opinion, if you’re a long-term holder and believer in crypto or Bitcoin- keep holding it!
And if you’re considering investing in Bitcoin just because BTC halving may make it grow- think twice.