TL;DR
- The highly anticipated Bitcoin block halving is only 10,000 blocks away. A block only takes 10 minutes, meaning about 100,000 minutes—67 days are left until halving occurs.
- Market watchers are ecstatic about the event, predicting a possible Bitcoin rally with a drastic price increase.
Only 10,000 Blocks Left Until 2024 Bitcoin Halving
The long-awaited Bitcoin block halving may occur at block 840,000. Currently, the Bitcoin blockchain is at block 830,000, meaning the halving is 10,000 blocks away.
Block halvings happen every four years. When it arrives, the Bitcoin block reward is cut in half. In the upcoming halving, the Bitcoin block reward will reduce from 6.25 Bitcoins to 3.125 Bitcoins.
Market watchers are ecstatic about the event as it will minimize the supply of freshly mined Bitcoins. The move will theoretically cause a Bitcoin (BTC) rally due to the law of supply and demand.
Interestingly, a significant Bitcoin rally occurred after each previous halving. A Bitcoin block will take 10 minutes to happen.
Therefore, it may take about 100,000 minutes for the block halving to occur—roughly 67 days.
Notably, this timeframe can vary slightly due to fluctuations in the mining hash rate. In any case, the estimated block halving projects may occur on April 19th, 2024.
What Happened the Last Time Bitcoin Halved?
The first Bitcoin halving happened in Nov. 2012, which reduced mining rewards from 50 Bitcoins to 25. Bitcoin price increased by a 100-fold increase from $11 to $1135 the following year.
The second halving happened in Jul. 2016, when the rewards dropped to 12.5 Bitcoins per block. In this specific case, the Bitcoin price didn’t respond immediately.
The halving has seen the price of Bitcoin fluctuating between $500-$800. Moreover, the whole coin cycle was dull, which continued until the year ended.
After Bitcoin exceeded $800 in December 2016, it entered a frenzy. The following year’s bull market made its prices reach a new historic high of $19,862 on Dec. 2017.
This is a whopping 28.27 times increase. The third halving occurred in May. 2020, bringing the block reward to 6.25 Bitcoins.
Its price skyrocketed to its all-time high of $67,450, marking growing adoption and investment from institutional investors.
Therefore, it’s unsurprising that the crypto community is excited about this year’s halving, considering these three previous halves have had ripple effects on the market.
Will Halving Cause the Price of Bitcoin to Skyrocket?
Many crypto analysts expect the halving to have a massive impact on the price of Bitcoin. A few others are skeptical, reiterating that history may not repeat itself.
The price fall in late Jan. 2024 was a big blow for Bitcoin bulls. If the demand continues to decline, then its price will decrease accordingly.
Moreover, it may put miners in trouble as the block reward would be halved. And may force them to shut down and close their businesses.
Each halving has introduced unique trading patterns on the market, and this 2024 halving may not be an exception. One cannot accurately predict how the price of Bitcoin will move after the 2024 halving.
But if you look at the Bitcoin rainbow chart, it shows how the previous halving happened when Bitcoin price was relatively low.
If that happens in this case, the crypto bear market might extend to the first half of 2024. Many market analysts believe it would likely be as volatile as previous halving cycles.
How will the price of Bitcoin move after the 2024 halving?
Suchet Salvesen
Suchet is a Norwegian economist, entrepreneur, and investor, serving as the CFO and COO of Brainfund. With over a decade of experience in global expansion, venture capital, and emerging technologies, he earned his MBA from the NMBU School of Business & Economics. He held dual bachelor's degrees from the University of South-Eastern Norway. His career spans roles at NextToMe, Get, and Conax before joining Everipedia, now Brainfund, in 2017.
