Halving
In plain English
The scheduled event, roughly every four years, when the reward miners receive for each Bitcoin block is cut in half — slowing the creation of new coins.
What is the halving?
Every 210,000 blocks — about four years — the reward paid to Bitcoin miners for adding a block is cut in half. It started at 50 BTC in 2009 and has fallen through 25, 12.5 and 6.25 to 3.125 BTC after the April 2024 halving. The schedule is written into Bitcoin's code and requires no vote or decision.
Why it exists
The halving is how Bitcoin enforces its 21 million supply cap. Rather than issuing coins at a fixed rate forever, the protocol releases them on a decreasing curve, so issuance approaches zero over time. The last new bitcoin is expected around the year 2140.
The design deliberately mirrors the extraction of a scarce resource: easy at first, progressively harder, ultimately finite.
What it means for miners
Miner revenue comes from two sources — the block reward and transaction fees. A halving instantly removes half of the first. Operations with high electricity costs or older hardware can become unprofitable and shut down, which temporarily lowers the network's hash rate until difficulty adjusts and the remaining miners absorb the work.
Over the long run, fees are expected to make up a growing share of miner income as the block reward shrinks.
What it means for the price
The argument is straightforward: less new supply arriving each day, with unchanged demand, should support the price. Historically, periods of substantial growth have followed past halvings.
The caveat is equally important. There have only been four halvings, which is far too small a sample to draw a statistical conclusion, and each occurred in very different macroeconomic conditions. The date is also known years in advance, so markets have ample time to price it in. A halving guarantees nothing.