Bitcoin’s fourth subsidy halving occurred at block 840,000 on 20 April 2024 at 00:09:27 UTC. It reduced the new bitcoin created in each block from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. Miners also receive the transaction fees paid by users whose transactions are included in the block.
The next halving will occur at block 1,050,000 and reduce the subsidy to 1.5625 BTC. It is expected around 2028, but the exact date and time cannot be known in advance because block production varies. The rule is based on every 210,000 valid blocks, not a calendar countdown.
Key point: A halving does not mechanically double Bitcoin’s price. It cuts new issuance, while price still depends on demand, liquidity, leverage, regulation, macroeconomic conditions and market expectations. Historical performance after earlier halvings is not a reliable prediction.
Bitcoin halving status in 2026
| Metric | Current status |
|---|---|
| Most recent halving | Block 840,000, mined 20 April 2024 at 00:09:27 UTC |
| Current subsidy | 3.125 BTC per valid block |
| Approximate new issuance | About 450 BTC per day if 144 blocks are mined; actual daily blocks vary |
| Next halving height | 1,050,000 |
| Next subsidy | 1.5625 BTC per block |
| Estimated next date | Around 2028; the block height is exact, the calendar date is not |
| Total halvings completed | Four |
Why the subsidy halves
Bitcoin’s consensus rules began with a 50 BTC subsidy and halve it every 210,000 blocks. The geometric decline limits total issuance to just under 21 million BTC. A halving affects future issuance; it does not remove bitcoin already held or cut wallet balances.
The subsidy is only one part of the miner’s block reward. Transaction fees fluctuate with demand for block space and can be significant. Over many future halvings, fees are expected to become a larger share of miner revenue as the subsidy trends toward zero.
What a halving means for miners
At the halving block, subsidy revenue per unit of hash power falls immediately if every other variable stays equal. A miner’s outcome also depends on BTC price, transaction fees, network difficulty, machine efficiency, uptime, pool fees, financing and electricity cost.
Unprofitable machines may shut down, but Bitcoin retargets mining difficulty every 2,016 blocks. If hash rate falls, a later downward adjustment can make block production more economical for the remaining miners. The adjustment is delayed, so the transition can still pressure operators.
What a halving means for investors
The schedule is public years in advance, so market participants can anticipate it. The event reduces the flow of newly issued BTC but says nothing about how much existing BTC holders will sell or how much buyers will demand.
Price charts that align past cycles contain very few independent halving observations and are vulnerable to hindsight. Treat exact post-halving price targets as speculation, especially when they ignore liquidity, leverage and broader economic conditions.
Original May 2020 halving article (historical archive)
The original author-written sections below are preserved substantially intact as a snapshot immediately before the third halving. Every countdown, price, hash rate, difficulty, block count, issuance figure and 2020 projection below is historical. The broken countdown and price-widget imports were removed.
Bitcoin Halving is expected to happen at 12 May 2020 07:07:39 UTC
What is the Bitcoin Halving Event?
The Bitcoin Halving event which marks the point where Bitcoin mining rewards will be cut precisely in half. Many view this as a turning point for the price of Bitcoin because it will drastically reduce the new supply of Bitcoin, creating scarcity. Currently the Bitcoin Halving is expected to happen at 12 May 2020 11:04:30 UTC – the exact time and date may vary due to fluctuations in Bitcoin block creation time. Once the halving takes place, the amount of Bitcoin mined per day will decrease from 1,800 BTC to 900 BTC. It is important to remember this event is permanent and will affect all the Bitcoin mined in the future as well (until the next halving event). From an economics standpoint, the less Bitcoin there is being produced the more scare and less accessible Bitcoin will become.
Check out my video on what the Bitcoin halving is, and what opportunities it can mean for Bitcoin.
Reduced Sell Pressure on Bitcoin
There will be substantially less sell pressure from Bitcoin miners as they’re income of Bitcoin will half. Currently, miners will mint $13 million USD worth of Bitcoin per day. This is no small figure – and one of the reasons why mining is such a trillion dollar industry (Check out our Bitcoin mining guide for how to be part of it).
Will Miners shut down / got bankrupt?
After the Halving, miners will receive half of their regular income. This will drastically alter the dynamics and profitability of Bitcoin Mining. For miners who are using older machines (ASICs), the drop in income might spell certain doom. Some miners will yield negative profits and be forced to retire the older less efficient units. This is a common practice in mining – renewing hardware is part of the profitability cycle for miners. This is similar to other tech hardware businesses like server farms which require annual upgrades to hardware.
There is no risk that Bitcoin be without miners – till is still 900 BTC to be mined each day (~$7.5 Million USD). Miners will be looking to be more competitive and source cheaper and cheaper electricity. In addition, Bitcoin difficulty can drop if there is less hashrate on the network, meaning it will be easier to mine Bitcoin.
Hype and Expectations
The Bitcoin Halving comes with a lot of hype and optimism for the future of Bitcoin. Several memes have emerged with charts pointing to “pump” in the price of Bitcoin. The chart above shows the LOG price of Bitcoin over time, with a ascending trend indicating potential prices of $250,000 and even $2,000,000 for the price of Bitcoin. It is important to remember that with cryptocurrencies prices are high volatile and past trends don’t always indicate future trends.
Stats
| Total Bitcoins in circulation: | 18,367,900 |
| Total Bitcoins to ever be produced: | 21,000,000 |
| Percentage of total Bitcoins mined: | 87.47% |
| Total Bitcoins left to mine: | 2,632,100 |
| Total Bitcoins left to mine until next blockhalf: | 7,100 |
| Bitcoin price (USD): | $9,987.70 |
| Market capitalization (USD): | $183,453,074,830.00 |
| Bitcoins generated per day: | 1,800 |
| Bitcoin inflation rate per annum: | 3.64% |
| Bitcoin inflation rate per annum at next block halving event: | 1.80% |
| Bitcoin inflation per day (USD): | $17,977,860 |
| Bitcoin inflation until next blockhalf event based on current price (USD): | $70,912,670 |
| Bitcoin block reward (USD): | $124,846.25 |
| Total blocks: | 629,432 |
| Blocks until mining reward is halved: | 568 |
| Total number of block reward halvings: | 2 |
| Approximate block generation time: | 10.00 minutes |
| Approximate blocks generated per day: | 144 |
| Difficulty: | 16,104,807,485,529 |
| Hash rate: | 117.64 Exahashes/s |
| Current activated soft forks | bip34,bip66,bip65,csv,segwit |
| Current pending soft forks | |
| Next retarget period block height | 631008 |
| Blocks to mine until next difficulty retarget | 1576 |
| Next difficulty retarget ETA | 10 days, 22 hours, 40 minutes |
Frequently asked questions
What is a Bitcoin halving?
It is the consensus-scheduled reduction of Bitcoin's new-coin subsidy by half every 210,000 blocks.
When was the latest Bitcoin halving?
The fourth halving occurred at block 840,000 on 20 April 2024 at 00:09:27 UTC.
What is the current Bitcoin mining subsidy?
The subsidy is 3.125 BTC per block. A successful miner can also collect transaction fees from the included transactions.
When is the next Bitcoin halving?
It will occur at block 1,050,000, expected around 2028. The exact calendar time depends on how quickly blocks are mined.
What will the next Bitcoin subsidy be?
The subsidy will fall from 3.125 BTC to 1.5625 BTC per block at block 1,050,000.
Does the halving reduce bitcoin in my wallet?
No. It reduces future block subsidies and does not alter existing wallet balances.
Does Bitcoin always rise after a halving?
No. Past cycles do not guarantee a future result. Demand, liquidity, leverage, regulation and macroeconomic conditions also affect price.
Will miners shut down after a halving?
Some inefficient miners may shut down, but outcomes depend on price, fees, energy costs, hardware and difficulty. Difficulty can later adjust if hash rate changes.
How many bitcoin are created per day?
At 3.125 BTC and a long-run average of roughly 144 blocks, the estimate is about 450 BTC per day. Actual block production varies.
What happens after the final Bitcoin halving?
The subsidy eventually rounds to zero around 2140. Miners can still receive transaction fees, making demand for block space increasingly important to the security budget.
Sources and further reading
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