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What is Bitcoin Halving (2024) and How Does It Work?
Introduction to Bitcoin Halving
With so much excitement over the rising price of Bitcoin, the upcoming Bitcoin halving event has become the talk of the town. What is it? How significant will it be in 2024? This article will explain everything you need to know about the Bitcoin halving. It will briefly describe what it is, what it means for investors and miners, and its impact on the global cryptocurrency market.
What is Bitcoin Halving?
The Bitcoin halving is a periodic event that occurs after every 210,000th Bitcoin block has been mined. Since it takes about 10 minutes to mine a single block on the Bitcoin blockchain, when you do the math, 210,000 blocks are mined approximately every four years. So, the Bitcoin halving happens once every four years.
The “halving” in “Bitcoin halving” refers to the reduction in mining rewards by half. This means that the amount of new Bitcoins awarded to miners for validating transactions is halved with each Bitcoin halving, effectively slowing the rate at which new Bitcoins are released into circulation.
The 2024 Bitcoin halving is the fourth of its kind. The first occurred in 2012, the second in 2016, and the third in 2020.
Here is a table illustrating the mining reward and The price of Bitcoin in the last three halving cycles.
Bitcoin Halving Number |
Bitcoin Halving Year |
Mining Reward |
Half price |
ATH of the year |
1 | 2012 | From 50 to 25 | 13 dollars | $1,152 |
2 | 2016 | From 25 to 12.5 | $664 | $17,760 |
3 | 2020 | From 12.5 to 6.25 | $ 9,734 | $67,549 |
This new price spike occurred in 2020 despite most of the global market being affected and halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Start your journey with Bitcoin: Invest with one clickBitcoin Halving 2024: What to Expect
The 2024 Bitcoin Halving It is scheduled for April 17, 2024 and is highly anticipated.
Experts including Robert Kiyosaki have predicted that Bitcoin could hit $100,000 by June 2024, while Standard Chartered suggests that Bitcoin could rise to $200,000 by the end of the year.
These optimistic price predictions are driven by several factors, such as the approval of the Bitcoin Spot ETF by the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) in conjunction with the Bitcoin halving, the adoption of Bitcoin in more countries, and growing awareness among the general population.
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How does the Bitcoin halving affect miners?
For miners, the Bitcoin halving means that their mining rewards will be cut in half. However, this does not necessarily mean that they will be less profitable. The reason is that the value of the Bitcoins they earn, despite the halving, is likely to increase.
To continue to generate profits after the halving, miners must make their hardware more efficient and consume less electricity when the mining difficulty changes.
Bitcoin Halving and its Impact on Investors
The overall agenda of Bitcoin’s halving is to be a deflationary event designed to slow down its supply and increase scarcity. If demand remains stable or increases, this could potentially push up the value of Bitcoin over time.
This price increase is already underway: the price of Bitcoin increased from $46,000 (in early January) to $68,000 in early March.
Further strengthening this optimistic outlook, Bitcoin’s market capitalization hit a record high of $1.3 trillion on March 4, 2024.
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Preparing for Bitcoin Halving 2024
With all this excitement surrounding the Bitcoin halving event, investors need to do thorough research and analysis and stay up to date with cryptocurrency news regularly. Experts believe that buying Bitcoin before the event happens will be much more favorable in the long run, as the price could invariably increase a few months after the halving. Adopting a long-term holding strategy could position an investor well to benefit from any subsequent increases in the price of Bitcoin.
Finally, be prepared for the potential volatility surrounding the halving event.
Where can I buy Bitcoin in India?
You can buy Bitcoin from Trusted Cryptocurrency Exchanges in IndiaA popular choice is Mudrex, an Indian cryptocurrency exchange registered with FIU-IND and 100% compliant with Indian legal regulations.
The Global Impact of Bitcoin Halving
- Other Bitcoin Investors: In the past, Bitcoin halvings have led to increased short-term price volatility as investors speculate on the impact of the supply reduction. This volatility can attract new investors looking for profitable opportunities.
- Widespread adoption: Rising prices and media coverage of halving events could accelerate Bitcoin adoption.
- Regulatory Attention: The increased attention and valuation of Bitcoin around a halving event may attract the attention of financial regulators around the world. This could lead to new progressive policies that impact how Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are traded and used in different countries.
- Influence on other cryptocurrencies: As the oldest and most well-known cryptocurrency, Bitcoin trends can lead to increased investor interest and influence the market dynamics of other cryptocurrencies.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Bitcoin halving in 2024 is a big deal in the cryptocurrency world. People are expecting the price to go up a lot and it could lead to more people using Bitcoin and new regulations for cryptocurrencies. Moreover, this event could affect not only Bitcoin but the cryptocurrency market as a whole. The 2024 halving could start a new phase for cryptocurrencies, showing how important Bitcoin is to the global financial system.
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(Originally published on March 15, 2024)
(This article is generated and published by ET in the spotlight team. You can contact them at etspotlight@timesinternet.in)