While previous halvings have yielded big future benefits, analysts warn that the same won't automatically happen this time around.
by Dan Cairns, news reporter
Saturday 20 April 2024 03:45, UK
According to cryptocurrency analysis firm CoinGecko, a rare Bitcoin halving event has occurred.
Significantly reduce the number of new Bitcoin Enter the market by reducing the rewards earned by Bitcoin miners by 50%.
It is conducted approximately every four years and is designed to limit supply to 21 million units by 2140.
That means just 450 Bitcoins will be created every day.
Halvings also occurred in 2012, 2016, and 2020. This mechanism was written into the code when Bitcoin was first created.
The cryptocurrency's price remained stable at $63,747 (£51,531) after the halving, with analysts saying the expected event had already been priced in.
However, previous halvings have ultimately led to big gains, so investors may be hoping that big gains aren't far off.
At the time of the halving in May 2020, the price was around $8,600, but a year later it had skyrocketed to more than $56,000.
“I’m a little skeptical about the lessons we can learn from past halvings in terms of price prediction,” said Andrew O’Neill, a crypto expert at S&P Global.
“It's just one of many factors that drive the price,” O'Neill said.
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Bitcoin It hit a new high of $73,803 (£59,661) in March. It's up 175% over the past 12 months.
Its legitimacy was further strengthened in January when Bitcoin-holding funds (ETFs) were allowed to trade on U.S. stock exchanges.
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The mainstream financial community has traditionally considered Bitcoin to be highly risky, unpredictable and prone to dramatic price fluctuations.
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey warned in 2021: cryptocurrency has “no intrinsic value” and investors should “be prepared to lose all their money.”
He also told lawmakers in January that cryptocurrencies are “significantly inefficient” and are still “not established as a core financial service.”
Over 19.5 million Bitcoins are currently mined, and only 1.5 million can be mined over the next 116 years.
Halving occurs every 210,000 blocks, typically approximately every 4 years.
