What is the Bitcoin Halving?

The Bitcoin Halving (sometimes called the Halvening) is one the most important events in Bitcoin. It is the moment when the reward for mining a new block is cut in half. This occurs after every 210,000 are mined, which is approximately every 4 years. Here is a look at the history of the halvings:

For the last 4 years, miners have been receiving 6.25 bitcoins every time they are the first to solve the cryptographic math puzzle and add a new block to the blockchain.  According to Swan Bitcoin, the next halving is set to happen on 23 April 2024. After that date, miners will only receive 3.25 bitcoins. This halving will continue until the block height reaches 21 million. That is the cap on the amount of Bitcoin that can ever be created.

You’re probably saying: so what?  Why is this important?  The answer is…inflation.

Inflation

Inflation is the increase in the price of things over time and the decrease in the value of your money. In other words, over time the same amount of your money will buy fewer things. One of the main reasons we have inflation in our money is because central banks can create more money whenever they want. When there’s more money around and the same amount of ‘things’ to buy, prices tend to rise, which means our money is worth less.

Bitcoin is Different

Bitcoin is different. The amount of new Bitcoin around will shrink every four years until it is capped at 21 million. So, if the supply is lower and the demand is going up, what do you think happens to the value of Bitcoin?  It should go up.  In past halvings this has happened:

We know that the next halving will occur sometime in April 2024.  Do we know what will happen?  We can't be sure.  Still, a lot of people like to look at the trends of the past to predict the future.  My advice:  just keep learning.