In less than ten days from now, Bitcoin halving event is scheduled to unfold even as the world around the $2.81 trillion valued cryptocurrency market waits with bated breath.
In theory, Bitcoin Halving is a programmed event scheduled at the completion of every 2,10,000 blocks, where the mining rewards on bitcoin gets reduced by 50%. The current reward per block for “miners” who validate every Bitcoin transaction through mining, is 6.25 Bitcoins (BTC) which will reduce to 3.125 BTCs by April 20, 2024. It is through mining that new BTC are generated and introduced in the market and the cap has been set at 21 million BTC since the inception of the world’s strongest cryptocurrency.
At the surface level, the halving event might seem to be concerned only with miners who will now see a 50% reduction in their rewards for finishing each block of validating BTC transactions. However, the consequence of the halving event is far reaching as it could disrupt the cryptocurrency market, attract or repel investors, shoot up value of new cryptocurrencies, while pushing many others into oblivion.
Bitcoin halving, as discussed earlier, is a programmed event scheduled every four years, where the block mining reward is reduced by 50%. Since the introduction of the ‘genesis’ block in the blockchain networks, the creators of Bitcoin cryptocurrency had set the limit of 21 million- the maximum BTC that could ever be generated through mining.
For further explanation, we will use the example of gold and diamond mining. Both gold and diamond, substances found naturally, were discovered by pre-historic humans and since then have been mined at a massive scale, even to this date. However, with time, the mine owners began controlling the supply of the precious items to maintain their “precious” and rare nature and hence control the price, ensuring that the value remained always high.
Similarly, the creators of BTC and Blockchain technology (creators’ pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto) had launched the BTC network in 2009 with a genesis block, which carried a reward of 50 BTC for miners. As a decentralized system, the blockchain software was programmed with a cap of 21 million BTC that could ever be generated and after every four years, the reward for mining gets reduced by half. Through such programming, the creators found a simple yet efficient way to keep the demand and supply of BTCs in check, retain their scarce value and to ensure that the bullish run of BTC continues to surge. It has been predicted through calculations that the halving events will continue till 2140 when the 21 million BTC cap will be reached.
The Cryptocurrency market, over the years, has gained the reputation of being extremely volatile. Past performances of a particular cryptocurrency don’t determine its future and often, even seasoned investors have faced difficulty in predictions. In this scenario, a halving event acts as a whirlpool where all digital assets are pulled into, and the entire cryptocurrency market gets disrupted.
The first halving occurred in 2012 where the reward for mining was reduced to 25 BTC.
Past halving events of 2020 and 2016 have resulted in a bullish run of BTC and have attracted investors. Let us have a look at how BTC and the crypto market fared in the past two halving events.
Halving 2016:
The second halving event which occurred on July 9 in 2016 saw the mining reward reduced to 12.5 BTC from 25. While it considerably reduced mining rewards, it also paved way for more cost-efficient mining setup leading to the creation of a pool of bigger players in the mining industry. Bitcoin, which was trading at 650.96$ before halving, reached an all-time high of $20,089 after 526 days of the July 9 event.
Halving 2020:
The third halving event occurred on May 11, 2020, amid a raging coronavirus pandemic. The halving event came in the wake of Bitcoin price crashing from $7935 to $4826 on a single day on March 12, 2020. The halving resulted in a reduction of block reward to 6.25 BTC. Bitcoin had traded at $8787 during the halving and almost one and a half years later, it reached an all-time high of $69,000.
Is halving good?
Experts suggest that historically, halving has always resulted in a surge in the value of BTC and emergence of other cryptocurrencies. As BTC’s value lies in its limited supply, the halving events will only see the market going bullish on it. The miners, on the other hand, will have to look for resource optimization and to increase their hash power as we are expected to witness a bigger consolidation of miners in the coming times.