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Bitcoin’s First Halving Occurred 7 Years Ago

Author

Jonathan Gibson

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Reading time

2 mins
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Author

Jonathan Gibson

Tags

Category

News - Archive

Reading time

2 mins
Last update

Author

Jonathan Gibson

Tags

Reading time

2 mins
Last update

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The first Bitcoin (BTC) halving took place 7 years ago on November 28. This was a very important milestone for the Bitcoin network as the reward for miners dropped from 50 BTC per block to 25 BTC per block. The interesting thing about it is that the price of the largest cryptocurrency in the market was just $12 compared to $57,000 at the time of writing. 

Bitcoin’s First Halving Took Place 7 Years Ago

Bitcoin is today celebrating the 7th anniversary of the first halving event. Security expert and Bitcoin supporter Andreas Antonopoulos shared on Facebook this information. Before the first halving event, every single block rewarded miners with 50 BTC. After the halving on November 28, miners started to receive 25 BTC, a 50% reduction. 

The second halving on the Bitcoin network took place on July 9, 2016. The block reward dropped once again by 50% from 25 BTC to 12.5 BTC. At that time, the Bitcoin network had a larger number of users and investors. Nonetheless, it was not yet what it became in recent years. 

The third halving that the Bitcoin network experienced was in May 2020. Bitcoin registered an all-time high in December 2017 of over 20,000 and then it dropped to $3,180 in 2018. In March 2020, with the COVID-19 market sell-off, Bitcoin also briefly dropped below $5,000. Rewards for miners dropped from 12.5 BTC to only 6.25 BTC respecting the 50% decrease every halving. 

The next halving is expected to take place in May 2024. The network would again cut miners’ rewards in half from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. 

What is a Halving Event and How Does it Work?

A Bitcoin halving event is a reduction in the rewards that miners receive every single time they find a block. The rewards get cut every 210,000 blocks confirmed by miners, usually every four years, but this can change. 

Halving events are very important for the Bitcoin network as they are very useful to control the total supply of Bitcoin. It is worth taking into consideration that halving events will happen every 210,000 blocks until the year 2140. Nonetheless, over 99% of the 21 million Bitcoin would be already mined by 2032. 

Moreover, technical analysts consider that halving events have a strong impact on the price of Bitcoin as there would be smaller selling pressure from miners. For example, after May 2020’s halving event on the Bitcoin network, the price of this virtual currency started a new bull run to $69,000 in 2021. 

Investors are now waiting for future halving events as this could have a positive effect on the price of the virtual currency. Let’s also not forget that there will only be 21 million Bitcoin ever mined. With a lower new issuance of BTC the price of the cryptocurrency is expected to continue moving higher. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is being traded at $57,000 per coin.

Jonathan Gibson

About the Author

Jonathan is an experienced editor-in-chief and crypto writer, with over seven years in the field. His work focuses on in-depth research and clear, informative reporting on cryptocurrency topics, positioning him as a knowledgeable figure in the industry.