Here’s the Countdown clock – Bitcoin halving is getting closer and closer. Only one day left until the next halving event.
But what exactly is about
to happen & why should not only miners but also investors be particularly
attentive? If you want to know the clear answers, then just keep reading this
article!
Today, we are going to
find out all the basic information about this upcoming event. Let’s get
started!
What
is Bitcoin Halving: What Should We Know?
When developing a Bitcoin,
Satoshi Nakamoto decided that the maximum number of available bitcoins shouldn’t
exceed 21,000,000. However, not all these bitcoins are in circulation.
How to get them? The main
idea is that users of the network have to use mining devices in order to find
new blocks and mine new coins.
When miners successfully
validate a new block, they receive a so-called block reward. This reward is
intended to compensate for their time as well as service provided.
Since the mining of new
BTC is a rather lucrative source of income, the mining difficulty increases
regularly. Accordingly, the process of mining becomes more and more difficult
over time. Nakamoto has also implemented another function that is designed to
prevent all coins from being mined too quickly – the halving. This means a
halving of the block reward.
Before the first halving,
miners received a reward of 50 BTC per block validated. Today, this reward is 12.5
BTC. The Bitcoin Blockchain code states that such a halving takes place only every
210,000 blocks.
Bitcoin halving takes
place after 210,000 blocks mining. If a block is validated every ten minutes –
144 blocks are validated daily – this corresponds to a period of almost four
years.
So far we witnessed only two
BTC halvings. The first halving took place in 2012, and the reward halved to 25
BTC per block.
The second event dates
from 2016. That is, the miners still received 12.5 BTC for a successful validation
of a block. Although the amount of the reward is declining, the Bitcoin network
boasts of a steadily increasing computing power.
In one day, the third BTC halving takes place! That
is, the expected date of Bitcoin halving 2020 is May 12, 2020.
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