Bitcoin Halving
The bitcoin halving is a pre-programmed event roughly every four years (210,000 blocks) that cuts the new bitcoin issued to miners per block in half, slowing supply growth until the 21 million cap is reached.
April 2024: block reward fell from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC, cutting daily new supply from ~900 to ~450 BTC.
Halvings are bitcoin's monetary policy, fixed in the protocol: 50 BTC per block at launch, 25 after 2012, 12.5 after 2016, 6.25 after 2020, and 3.125 after the April 2024 halving. The final fraction of the 21 millionth bitcoin is projected to be mined around the year 2140.
Because each halving reduces new supply while demand varies freely, halvings anchor many market narratives and cycle theories. Historically prices have risen strongly in the 12–18 months after halvings — but with only four data points, that pattern is far from a statistical law.
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Related terms
- Satoshi (sat)
- A satoshi is the smallest unit of bitcoin — one hundred-millionth of one BTC (0.00000001 BTC). There are 100,000,000 satoshis in every bitcoin, making small everyday amounts practical to price.
- Hash Rate
- Hash rate measures the total computing power securing a proof-of-work blockchain, expressed in hashes per second. A higher hash rate makes attacking the network more expensive and is read as a security indicator.
- Self-Custody
- Self-custody means holding your own cryptocurrency private keys rather than leaving coins on an exchange. You gain immunity from exchange failures, at the cost of being solely responsible for security and backups.