What is Bitcoin Halving?
The Bitcoin halving cuts the amount of new BTC miners receive per block in half every 210,000 blocks, roughly every four years. The last halving took place in April 2024, and the next is expected in 2028.
On this page 10
- How does the Bitcoin halving work?
- Past Bitcoin halving dates
- When is the next Bitcoin halving?
- Why does Bitcoin have a halving?
- How does the halving affect new supply?
- How does the halving affect miners?
- Does the halving push up the bitcoin price?
- Halving vs token unlock: what’s the difference?
- Do bitcoin holders need to do anything?
- Sources
The Bitcoin halving is the event that cuts the amount of new bitcoin paid to miners for each block in half. It happens automatically every 210,000 blocks, roughly every four years, under rules written into Bitcoin‘s code. The most recent halving took place in April 2024, reducing the block reward from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC.
The halving is part of the mechanism that caps Bitcoin’s total supply at 21 million coins. It steadily slows the rate at which new bitcoin enters circulation. It does not change anyone’s balance, the bitcoin price or the network’s capacity.
How does the Bitcoin halving work?
A miner who finds a block earns two things: the new bitcoin the protocol allows (the block subsidy) and the fees paid by the transactions in that block. The halving only cuts the subsidy; fees are unaffected.
Bitcoin’s code halves the subsidy every 210,000 blocks. At an average of ten minutes per block, that works out to about four years. Because blocks arrive based on how fast miners find them rather than on a calendar, the exact date isn’t known in advance; only the block height is fixed. As the subsidy keeps shrinking, the last bitcoin is expected to be mined around 2140.
Past Bitcoin halving dates
- 2009 (launch): block reward of 50 BTC.
- November 2012 (block 210,000): 50 → 25 BTC.
- July 2016 (block 420,000): 25 → 12.5 BTC.
- May 2020 (block 630,000): 12.5 → 6.25 BTC.
- April 2024 (block 840,000): 6.25 → 3.125 BTC.
When is the next Bitcoin halving?
The next halving will happen at block 1,050,000, cutting the reward from 3.125 BTC to 1.5625 BTC. At the average block pace, that lands in 2028; the exact day and time depend on how quickly blocks are found. To see how far away it is, subtract the current block height from 1,050,000. Countdown sites convert that number into a date using the average block time.
Why does Bitcoin have a halving?
Satoshi Nakamoto set out to tie Bitcoin’s money supply to a predictable schedule that is very hard to change, rather than to central bank decisions. The halving is the backbone of that schedule: like gold mining, new supply slows over time and total supply approaches a firm cap. Anyone can calculate today how many bitcoin will exist at any point in the future.
As a result, Bitcoin’s annual supply growth halves with each event. About 450 new BTC a day works out to roughly 164,000 a year, or around 0.8% of the existing supply. That low, predictable inflation rate is the most concrete basis for the “digital gold” comparison.
How does the halving affect new supply?
The network produces about 144 blocks a day. At 6.25 BTC per block, that meant roughly 900 new BTC daily; since the 2024 halving it’s roughly 450. The vast majority of the 21 million coins have already been mined, and the small remainder will trickle out at an ever-slower pace over the coming century.
Less new issuance doesn’t determine all the selling in the market. Long-term holders can sell, exchange liquidity can shift, and long-dormant coins can move. The halving changes only one part of the overall supply picture.
How does the halving affect miners?
If price and fees stay flat, a halving cuts miners’ gross revenue in half overnight while their power and hardware costs stay the same. After each halving, inefficient machines get switched off and miners move to newer hardware or cheaper energy. If total hashrate falls, mining difficulty adjusts down automatically and block times drift back toward ten minutes.
Over the long run, as the subsidy shrinks, fees are expected to make up a larger share of miner income. How that transition plays out is one of the big open questions in Bitcoin. Our Bitcoin mining guide covers the economics in more depth.
Does the halving push up the bitcoin price?
Past halvings are often linked to major price cycles, but there have only been four, which is far too few to prove a pattern. Each period also had other drivers: interest rates, global liquidity, regulation and new sources of demand. Ahead of the 2024 halving, for instance, the approval of US spot Bitcoin ETFs added a separate source of buying.
Because the halving date is known well in advance, expectations can be priced in before it happens. Calendar-based strategies like “buy on halving day and you’ll profit” ignore that uncertainty. For reading market moves, volatility and liquidity data tell you more than any single event.
Halving vs token unlock: what’s the difference?
A halving slows the creation of new BTC. A token unlock releases previously allocated, locked tokens into circulation, increasing available supply. Both get called “supply events,” but they push in opposite directions. Some other coins, such as Litecoin, also have halvings, but with different block intervals and total supply, so Bitcoin’s history doesn’t simply carry over.
Do bitcoin holders need to do anything?
No. The halving happens automatically inside the protocol. Your balance doesn’t halve, your coins don’t become invalid, and you don’t need to connect your wallet anywhere. Any “halving bonus,” “double your BTC” or “migration” campaign asking for your recovery phrase or an upfront payment is a scam.