Bitcoin has successfully completed its fourth halving, reducing mining rewards to 3.125 BTC per block and sparking widespread speculation about future price surges. As the crypto community eyes potential market shifts, anticipation grows around Bitcoin's next moves.

Bitcoin Completes Fourth Halving, Reducing Miner Rewards and Fueling Price Speculation

The historic event decreased Bitcoin miner payouts from 6.25 BTC per mined block to 3.125 BTC.

Bitcoin (BTC) has successfully completed its fourth halving event after posting its 840,000th block, at which time mining incentives are reduced in half once more.

The crypto world is keen to see what happens next with Bitcoin's price, with some predicting it could reach $250,000. According to CoinMarketCap data, Bitcoin is currently priced at $63,960, up 1.16% in the last 24 hours.

Starting today, Bitcoin miners will receive 3.125 BTC each mined block, down from the previous 6.25 BTC. It is a planned operation in the Bitcoin protocol that occurs approximately every four years, every 210,000 blocks mined.

The past three halvings, in 2012, 2016, and 2020, resulted in considerable decreases in mining payouts over time. The first Bitcoin halving occurred in 2012 when the block mining reward was halved from 50 to 25 BTC.

The primary goal of Bitcoin halving is to control scarcity and restrict its inflationary quantity. Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous founder of Bitcoin, included the technique in the code.

Halving mining rewards effectively reduces the rate at which new Bitcoin is created.

The system will continue until about 2140 when all Bitcoin has been mined.

Major bitcoin miners have been preparing for the event. Marathon Digital has revealed plans to buy a 200-megawatt (MW) Bitcoin mining plant in Texas for $87.3 million.

Bitcoin Halving Spurs Optimism Among Investors, Despite Market Volatility and New Developments

Meanwhile, in December 2023, Riot Platforms, a competitor in Bitcoin mining, purchased 66,560 mining rigs from manufacturer MicroBT, marking one of the firm's greatest hash rate increases in history.

“The Bitcoin halving is a pivotal event that historically signals a shift in the market, usually initiating a bullish trend over the following months. As we approached the fourth halving, the anticipation built, suggesting a continued—if slightly more subdued—upward trajectory,” M2 CEO Stefan Kimmel told Cointelegraph.

Despite short-term projections of price volatility in the crypto industry, there is still confidence regarding Bitcoin's long-term valuation.

Speaking with Cointelegraph, billionaire investor Tim Draper believes the halving would help push Bitcoin's price up to "$250,000 or more," a forecast he has frequently made, particularly in 2022.

Meanwhile, Herbert Sim, nicknamed "Bitcoin Man," informed Cointelegraph that other factors are currently at play when speculating on Bitcoin's price.

"Halving is not the only thing to look out for in the price action," he said, implying that the recent approval of the Bitcoin ETF in Hong Kong could have a significant price impact.

"The big banks of China will all have to start buying Bitcoin themselves too," he said.

Photo: Microsoft Bing