What exactly is the Bitcoin halving?
The issuance rate of Bitcoin networks is lowered in half every four years, or every 210,100 blocks. This is referred to as the Bitcoin Halving.
-A Bitcoin halving event occurs when the reward for mining Bitcoin transactions is cut in half.
-Halvings reduce the rate at which new coins are created and thus lower the available amount of new supply.
-Bitcoin last halved on May 11, 2020, resulting in a block reward of 6.25 BTC.
-The final halving is expected to occur in 2140 when the number of bitcoins circulating will reach the maximum supply of 21 million.
Since Bitcoin's birth, there have already been two halvings. The first occurred in 2012, while the second occurred in 2016. These occurrences have also resulted in huge increases in the price of Bitcoin, with gains of more than 1000% being frequent. The third halving is rapidly approaching and is scheduled to take place in May 2020. Following this halving, the block reward will be lowered to 6.25 BTC.
This post explores how the past two halvings affected Bitcoin's price and looks for trends, if any exist.
The First Halving
On November 28, 2012, the first first Halving took place. At the time, one BTC was valued around $12. About a year before the halving, the price of Bitcoin began to rise. 1 BTC was valued around $2.50 about a year before the event, and roughly about 5$ 6 months before the event.
The price of Bitcoin rallied massively only 6 months after Halving. Bitcoin rallied by 1025% to about 125$ per BTC in only 6 months. From the Halving event to the November 2013 peak (about 1 year), the price of BTC rallied by 9438% to about 1160$ per Bitcoin! In addition, from the uptrend that started on November 2011, to the peak on November 2013, the price of BTC rallied by a massive 46400%!
While the gains following the initial halving were phenomenal, the Mt. Gox debacle in late 2013 caused Bitcoin to lose almost 80% of its value, among other things. This was also the beginning of a long bear market for Bitcoin, and it took nearly two years for the downturn to be reversed.
The Second Halving
On July 9th, 2016, the second halving took place. During this time, one BTC was worth approximately 650$ (an increase of almost 4105% from the first halving price). About 9 months before the Halving, the price of Bitcoin began to rise. A year before the event, 1 BTC was valued approximately $275, and 6 months before the event, 1 BTC was worth approximately $380.
The 2nd Halving began a tremendous bull run that lasted around 18 months. Bitcoin's price increased by roughly 4105% from the Halving date to almost 20,000$ per BTC at the pinnacle of the bull trend. This bull market lasted approximately 18 months and peaked in late 2017. From the beginning of the upswing in October 2015 to the climax in December 2017, the price of BTC increased by a whopping 6666%!
While the gains were tremendous (to say the least), the price decline and protracted retrace that happened following the top resembled the 1st Halving in many ways. Following its high in 2017, Bitcoin fell roughly 85% in a year. In December of 2018, the price reached a low of roughly $3100.
The Third Halving
The third halving occurred in May 2020. The 3rd Halving started a tremendous bull run that lasted around 17 months. Bitcoin's price increased by roughly 695% from the Halving date to almost 69,000$ per BTC at the pinnacle of the bull trend. This bull market lasted approximately 17 months and peaked in late Nov 2021.
The fourth Halving
The fourth halving is projected to occur in April/May 2024, and we may expect increased Bitcoin values, which might result in the value of one bitcoin reaching $100,000.