Counting down to the BTC Halving
A meteoric event is looming large on our Contentworks calendar. No, not World Book and Copyright Day, we’re talking about the next Bitcoin halving! Today, we’re going over everything you need to know about this landmark event, before wrapping up all of the trading events for your calendar this week.
What is a Bitcoin halving?
A Bitcoin halving is an event where the reward for mining new blocks is cut in half, dropping from 6.25 BTC to 3.125, so miners receive 50% fewer Bitcoins for verifying transactions. It’s a pre-programmed event designed to control the supply of Bitcoin so it doesn’t run out so fast!
Halvings are scheduled to occur once every 210,000 blocks — which is about once every four years. This will keep happening until all 21 million Bitcoins have been mined by the network — but that’s not expected until sometime in 2140. Hold our flying car, please.
Why does this happen?
Bitcoin has a fixed supply of 21 million coins. This scarcity is part of its allure and where at least some of its value is derived from. It’s a bit like gold in that respect. Gold nuggets wouldn’t be half as awesome if they were growing on trees.
Halvings ensure that new Bitcoins enter the market at a predictable rate, preventing inflation. But that doesn’t mean that the price always remains stable — we’ll get to that in a bit.
When to tune in
This time around, the Bitcoin halving is projected to occur sometime between April 19th and April 20th. As the blocks continue to build, we’ll have a better idea of the exact day in the coming days.
How to follow the action
One of the best sources of information for crypto enthusiasts is X (formerly Twitter). Here are a few hashtags to use to stay up-to-date:
● #btchalving
● #bitcoinhalving
● #coinmarketcap
● #cryptomarket
● #bitcoincharts
● #cryptotrading
● #bitcoinsallday
● #bitcoinnews
We are also watching the most popular BTC/Crypto Reddit boards to see how the community is reacting. Our faves are:
● r/BTC
● r/Crypto
How could it affect BTC price?
This is the question on everyone’s lips. But, this isn’t our first halving, we’ve been through this before and can, therefore, pick apart the data and at least try and work out what could happen.
Remember, past performance is not a guarantee for future performance! But. here’s how things have gone in the past:
1. Halving #1 — November 2012
With 11 million Bitcoins in circulation, the first halving cut the block reward for miners from 50 BTC to 25 BTC.
Exactly one year later (November 28, 2013), Bitcoin was up 7,431%. Wow.
2. Halving #2 — July 2016
The second halving saw miners’ block rewards slashed from 25 BTC to 12.5 BTC.
After that, prices spiked again. A year after the halving, prices had increased by 279%.
3. Halving #3 — May 2020
This was a very interesting one, with Bitcoin’s third halving coinciding with the weirdness of C19. A lot of analysts had their eyes on it, seeing it as an important test for the viability of the leading cryptocurrency.
BTC passed the test, and then some! Exactly one year after the halving — Bitcoin’s price had increased by 539%, showing the world just how resilient the commodity has become, even during the most turbulent financial periods.
Source: Coincodex
How the market will react next is anyone’s guess…
To be clear, no single event has ever dictated Bitcoin’s fate, nor should it. This halving is definitely a significant chapter, but the story’s far from over.
Tell us your story
Are you buying BTC in anticipation of a boom? How high can Bitcoin go? Perhaps you’ve been HODLing for this exact moment. We’d love to hear your predictions over on X, @_Contentworks.
Top fundamental events week commencing 15/04/24
Looks like a relatively quiet week for trading. Here are all of the key events coming up.
Monday
● USD — Retail Sales MoM
Tuesday
● CNY — Chinese GDP Growth Rate YoY
● GBP — Unemployment Rate
● CAD — Inflation Rate YoY
● USD — Building Permits Prel
Wednesday
● JPY — Balance of Trade
● GBP — Inflation Rate YoY
Thursday
No events planned.
Friday
● JPY — Inflation Rate YoY
● GBP — Retail Sales MoM
Here at Contentworks we closely follow market movements and prep content that we think your traders would love to read. Let’s get you started right here.
Speak soon!
The Contentworks team
