The amount of new Bitcoin created is halved on a halving day every four years. When Bitcoin halves, the reward for contributors who secure the network is reduced by 50%, which directly affects the rate at which new Bitcoins enter circulation. We call this the halving day.
At the beginning of 2020, 12.5 new Bitcoins were added to the network every 10 minutes through virtual "mining". In May, this amount halved to 6.25. By April 2024, this amount will drop to about 3,125, and this process will continue until all 21 million bitcoins have been mined (this is estimated to happen around the year 2140). Coded into the Bitcoin protocol by Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin, this process is a way to increase the scarcity of Bitcoin by limiting the total supply of Bitcoin
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What is Bitcoin halving?
The amount of new Bitcoin created is halved on a halving day every four years. When Bitcoin halves, the reward for contributors who secure the network is reduced by 50%, which directly affects the rate at which new Bitcoins enter circulation. We call this the halving day.
At the beginning of 2020, 12.5 new Bitcoins were added to the network every 10 minutes through virtual "mining". In May, this amount halved to 6.25. By April 2024, this amount will drop to about 3,125, and this process will continue until all 21 million bitcoins have been mined (this is estimated to happen around the year 2140). Coded into the Bitcoin protocol by Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin, this process is a way to increase the scarcity of Bitcoin by limiting the total supply of Bitcoin