This is an event, also known as halvening, that halves Bitcoin Block reward, which takes place every 4 years. The event is largely anticipated by the cryptocurrency community because it marks the finite supply of Bitcoin. Overall, there can only be 21 million Bitcoins in existence. Once halving takes place, it will be harder to mine new coins and miners will see Block Reward fall by 50%. 210,000 Bitcoin blocks need to be mined between each Halving.

Block Reward is the reward miners receive once the next block is mined. To put it simply, Bitcoin has a chain of Blocks, also known as Blockchain. Each Block contains the information about transactions that took place within this block, fees, hash of transactions, amounts sent to and from, and much more. To mine a Block, miners need to solve complex mathematical equations using their hardware. Time interval between each Block mined is approximately 10 minutes. If a miner is lucky enough, or his mining equipment is superior and better than of other miners, then he may find the next Block on Blockchain. If this happens, the miner receives the full Block Reward. If current Block Reward is 6.25 Bitcoins, then miner will receive 6.25 Bitcoin. After the Block Halving event, which is expected to take place in 2024, Block rewards will be reduced by 50% to 3.125 Bitcoins per Block.

So far, Bitcoin has seen only 2 halving events.

• First, 28th of November, 2012. Bitcoin Block Reward fell from 50 BTC to 25 BTC. Block Span: 0 - 210,000. Maximum price reached after Halving: $1,165.
• Second, 9th of July, 2016. Bitcoin Block Reward fell from 25 BTC to 12.5 BTC. Block Span: 210,000 - 420,000. Maximum price reached after Halving: $19,715.
• Third, 11th of May, 2020. Bitcoin Block Reward fell from 12.5 BTC to 6.25 BTC. Block Span: 420,000 - 630,000. We`re yet to see when and if Bitcoin will reach a new all time high price.

The next Bitcoin Halving is about to take place in 2024. This is the fourth halving that the Bitcoin community will see.

Bitcoin Halving is highly anticipated by the cryptocurrency community because after Halving the issuance of newly mined Bitcoins falls. As a result, there is less selling pressure on the market. Sellers, as well as miners, have less Bitcoins to be offered to the market. If the demand for Bitcoins stays the same, then the price of Bitcoin is expected to increase due to the demand-supply economics. Put it simply, more people will be chasing an even more limited supply of Bitcoins which are left to be mined.

The maximum supply of Bitcoins is 21 million. Once the Halving event of Bitcoin occurs, the inflation rate of newly issued Bitcoins falls. Currently, approximately 18.4 millions of BTC have entered into circulation, which is about 87.62% of the total supply.

Bitcoin is a deflationary currency, which is contrary to many existing fiat currencies. Halving is a mechanism, created by Satoshi Nakamoto, to achieve the deflationary feature, which reduces the supply of Bitcoins every 210,000 blocks. Halving also intends to act as a price stabilisation mechanism. It does not only reduce the actual Block Reward, thereby making Bitcoins a scarce asset. Halving may also as a positive psychological effect on market participants, as well as long-term believers and holders of Bitcoin.

It is expected that the last Halving event will occur in 2136. It may be a bit earlier or later, all depending on how quickly Bitcoin Blocks will be mined. 10 minute interval between new Blocks is only a close estimate and varies depending on circumstances, such as mining difficulty.

It is expected that there will be 32 Halving events in total for Bitcoin.