Bitcoin Halving Officially Completed with Block 840,000 Mined
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The Bitcoin halving just happened at block height 840,000. This means the mining reward for each block has been cut in half, as miners get 3.125 Bitcoins instead of 6.25 Bitcoins. These new Bitcoins come into circulation as rewards for mining.
Bitcoin Halving Is Positioned To Control The Supply Of Bitcoin
Halving is one of the most significant activities in the crypto world and occurs about every four years, after every 210,000 blocks. It greatly cuts down on the amount of Bitcoin available, which helps keep prices from going down too fast by maintaining scarcity.
Bitcoin was created on 3 January 2009. At first, miners receive 50 Bitcoins for each block they mined. The first halving occured on 28 November 2012, when the mining reward was cut in half. Then, on 9 July 2016, there was another halving, bringing the reward down to 12.5 Bitcoins per block. The third halving occurred on 11 May 2020, reducing the reward even more to 6.25 Bitcoins.
Bitcoin functions on a proof-of-work system, and the algorithm shows that there has to be a halving every 210,000 blocks until all 21 million Bitcoins are found. It is expected that the next halving will be in 2028.
To change this set-up rule, most of the Bitcoin miners, more than half, have to agree, but that’s almost impossible because Bitcoin’s network is extensive and decentralized. Presently, about 19 million Bitcoins have been mined, leaving only 2 million left to mine.
Bitcoin Will Balance The Interests Of Miners With The Overall Health Of The Network
Bitcoin (BTC) is the first cryptocurrency that isn’t controlled by any one organization. In the peer-to-peer Bitcoin network, different nodes check transactions using cryptography and record them in a blockchain, a public distributed ledger.
Nodes in the Bitcoin network agree on transactions using a process called mining, which is computationally intensive. This process requires more electricity and helps secure the Bitcoin blockchain.
Before Bitcoin, there were a few other digital cash technologies. One of the first was ecash, created by David Chaum in the 1980s. The concept that solving puzzles could be valuable was suggested by cryptographers Cynthia Dwork and Moni Naor in 1992.
When Bitcoin’s supply gets cut in half, it significantly changes the price of the cryptocurrency. In the past, it’s been one of the main reasons for the price drive. This change also affects how Bitcoin miners work because when the reward gets cut in half without a corresponding significant price increase, it affects mining operation cash flow.
