On April 20th, at the milestone block height #840,000, Bitcoin underwent its fourth halving event, slashing block rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. This particular block was mined by the ViaBTC mining pool.
🎉 Block #840000, the #BitcoinHalving block, was successfully mined by ViaBTC!
🚀 Thrilled to celebrate this milestone with our dedicated miners.
🌌 Let's keep pushing forward on this incredible journey!
🌙 BTC to the moon!!!#BTCHalving #ViaBTC #ViaBTCHalving pic.twitter.com/thKF0AEC7c
— ViaBTC (@ViaBTC) April 20, 2024
A halving event in Bitcoin refers to the halving of rewards for miners when adding a new block to the blockchain. Satoshi Nakamoto embedded this event into the Bitcoin network, programmed to occur every 210,000 blocks, approximately every four years, until the total supply of 21 million coins is mined, projected to happen around 2140, effectively ending Bitcoin’s issuance.
The price of Bitcoin, after plummeting to $60,000 on the morning of April 19th, has shown no significant fluctuations. At the time of writing, the digital gold is trading around $63,800.
Economist and author of the acclaimed book “The Bitcoin Standard,” Saifedean Ammous, extended congratulations to the cryptocommunity on the halving event.
Happy bitcoin halving day!!
For the first time in history, humans have a form of money whose supply increases by less than 1% per year.
This is a big deal because the hardness of our money is a control knob for our time preference: the degree to which we discount the future.…
— Saifedean Ammous (@saifedean) April 20, 2024
According to Ammous, Bitcoin stands as the soundest currency in history, remaining beyond governmental control, thus making it the forefront form of money. He emphasized that the pioneer cryptocurrency even surpasses gold.
“Not only does bitcoin allow us a form of money outside government control, it’s also the hardest money to ever exist, making it the most advanced form of money ever, better than even gold. No matter what happens, you can be sure your bitcoin will never be diluted by more than 1% per year,” he noted.
Thomas Perfumo, Head of Cryptocurrency Strategy at Kraken exchange, told The Block that the fourth halving will account for approximately 95% of Bitcoin’s total issuance.
“Furthermore, the annualized growth of bitcoin’s supply each year will soon fall to less than 1% for the first time,” he said.
Binance CEO Richard Teng suggested that some miners may shift their focus to altcoins or explore alternative income sources post-halving to maintain balance in the segment.
“Some miners may opt to switch to mining altcoins or explore alternative revenue streams within the crypto space, which could help maintain a balance in the overall mining ecosystem.”
In addition to the halving impact, the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in Hong Kong in April is expected to influence Bitcoin’s price.
Crypto investor Quinten Francois joked that Bitcoin supporters are celebrating in solitude since none of their friends “have any idea what halving is.”
Bitcoiners celebrating the #Bitcoin halving alone because none of their friends have a clue what a halving is
— Quinten | 048.eth (@QuintenFrancois) April 20, 2024
