Bitcoin's Fifth Halving Scheduled for April 2028 as ETF Inflows Reshape Cycle Dynamics

Bitcoin's network passed the 100,000-blocks-remaining milestone in May 2026, placing the fifth halving around April 2028 at block 1,050,000, when the block reward will drop from 3.125 BTC to 1.5625 BTC, reducing daily new supply to approximately 225 BTC from 450 BTC.

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs, which hold over $100 billion in assets and manage 1.3 million BTC, have structurally altered demand dynamics. On April 6, 2026, ETF inflows reached $471 million in a single day, far exceeding the roughly $40 million worth of BTC mined daily. This front-loaded institutional buying pushed Bitcoin to an all-time high of $126,200 in October 2025 before the traditional post-halving rally window, breaking historical cycle patterns and prompting debate among analysts—BeInCrypto argues the cycle has "evolved," while TradingKey suggests it may have reached its "natural conclusion" as a price model.