Bitcoin Halving Dates — When Is the Next Bitcoin Halving?

Bitcoin halving dates are fast approaching.

Approximately every four years, the network cuts the reward for mining new coins in half. These planned events lower the Bitcoin production rate to increase the currency’s value and limit its inflation.

Let’s dig into what halving means and let the Bitcoin halving countdown begin.

What Is Bitcoin Halving?

Initially, the Bitcoin network issued 50 bitcoins (BTC) every 10 minutes. Every four years since then, the network has cut this number in half in a scheduled event known as a halving or halvening.

With each halving, the number of Bitcoins produced decreases, resulting in a continually lower supply of new coins. This makes the value of the cryptocurrency increase over time.

Halving events also control Bitcoin’s inflation rate, which has decreased steadily since the currency’s inception. Like gold (and unlike fiat currency like dollars), Bitcoin is a deflationary currency with a limited supply.

Eventually, BTC halving will cap the total supply at 21 million bitcoins.

How Does Bitcoin Halving Work?

Last halving schedules have cut the reward to network participants — known as miners — from 50 to 25 to 12.5, and then 6.25 BTC per block. Miners utilize computer hardware to generate new coins. They achieve this by verifying network transactions, through complex mathematical computations — all based on the Bitcoin algorithm.

Each time the Bitcoin block reward decreases by half, the revenue of every Bitcoin miner also drops by half.

It’s unclear exactly how long the supply of bitcoins will last. Some estimates indicate that the entire supply will be exhausted by 2140, and as much as 98% may be gone by as early as 2032.

Bitcoin Halving Dates — When Was the Last Bitcoin Halving?

The launch of Bitcoin in 2009 set the mining rewards for new Bitcoins at 50 BTC per block. Since then, the Bitcoin halving cycle occurs roughly every four years.

Here’s an overview of Bitcoin halving history:

When Is the Next Bitcoin Halving?

The last Bitcoin halving occurred on 19 April 2024, when block 840,000 was mined. Based on the current trajectory, the next Bitcoin halving event will likely occur in the spring of 2028.

The Bitcoin halving predictions indicate that it is likely to take place on April 18th, 2028. However, some experts suggest that it may occur in March or May as well. It is important to note that if the Bitcoin hashrate, which is an indicator of the frequency of mining attempts, increases substantially, the BTC halving date may come earlier than expected.

The next Bitcoin halving will cause the block reward to drop to 1.5625 BTC per block.

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