Halving

A pre-programmed event every four years where the Bitcoin issuance rate drops by 50%.

Every 210,000 blocks — roughly four years — the reward miners receive for mining a new block is cut in half. This is called a halving. It is the mechanism that enforces Bitcoin's 21 million supply cap by gradually reducing new issuance toward zero.

The first halving was in 2012, dropping the block reward from 50 BTC to 25 BTC. The second in 2016, to 12.5. The third in 2020, to 6.25. The fourth in 2024, to 3.125. The schedule continues until the reward rounds to zero around 2140 — at which point all 21 million coins will have been mined and miners will earn solely from transaction fees.

Halvings have historically preceded major price cycles, though correlation is not causation. The deeper point is that Bitcoin's monetary policy is published, fixed, and predictable for the next century. No fiat currency offers that.

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Why prices keep rising and what to do about it. The history of money, the mechanics of inflation, and how Bitcoin breaks the cycle.

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Related terms

Glossary

Mining

The process of competing to add new blocks to the Bitcoin blockchain. Miners earn block rewards plus fees.

Glossary

Sats

Short for satoshis — the smallest unit of Bitcoin. 100 million sats = 1 BTC.

Glossary

Fiat

Government-issued currency not backed by a physical commodity. The default form of money since 1971.

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