The fourth Bitcoin halving occurred on April 19th at approximately 8:10pm — a technical milestone enshrined by Satoshi Nakamoto over 15 years ago.
What is happening?
Per the Bitcoin Protocol, each block mined introduces new Bitcoin into circulation. This issuance follows a predefined schedule: every 210,000 blocks — roughly every four years — the reward allocated to miners for each block mined is reduced by fifty percent. This mechanism is ingrained in the Bitcoin Protocol to maintain scarcity and counteract inflation, ensuring a controlled expansion of the digital currency’s supply.
After the network mines 210,000 blocks, Bitcoin reduces the block reward by 50%. At the start of the network in 2009, the block reward was 50 Bitcoin. After three prior halvings, the block reward stood at 6.25 Bitcoin and dropped to 3.125 on April 19th. This system will continue until approximately 2140, when the proposed limit of 21 million coins is reached. By the year 2030, nearly 98% of the total Bitcoin supply will be in circulation.
Why does it matter?
The Bitcoin supply curve is deterministic due to the mining algorithm called the Difficulty Adjustment — which adjusts the difficulty of the mining process such that no matter how few or how many mining rigs are applied, the average block interval remains anchored at around 600 seconds. This makes Bitcoin’s monetary policy uniquely auditable and predictable — a property no fiat currency can claim.
The halving is less economically impactful to price than it once was — the new supply reduction represents only 0.6% of daily trading volumes. The more important message of each halving is structural: the rules written into the code 15 years ago continue to execute exactly as designed, without exception. That reliability is the point.