What is the bitcoin halving?

Bitcoin has no central bank deciding how much new money to create. Instead, the issuance schedule is written into the software that every node runs. New coins enter circulation as a reward to miners: whoever adds the next valid block receives a fixed amount of freshly created bitcoin, called the subsidy, plus the fees paid by the transactions in that block. How mining itself works is covered on our bitcoin page.

How does the schedule work?

When Bitcoin launched in January 2009, the subsidy was 50 BTC. The code halves it every 210,000 blocks. Because a block arrives about every ten minutes on average, each period lasts close to four years, but there is no fixed calendar date; it depends on how quickly blocks are found.

Block explorers such as mempool.space count down the remaining blocks; see what a blockchain explorer is.

Why does Bitcoin halve its reward?

The halvings make total issuance converge on just under 21 million BTC. The last fractions should be created around the year 2140. After that, miners will be paid only through transaction fees, which is why fees and their role matter for Bitcoin's long-term security. For a broader explanation of how fees work on blockchains, see what gas fees are.

Does the halving move the price?

People debate this endlessly. Past halvings were followed by large price swings in both directions, but many other forces were at work at the same time, and four data points do not make a rule. Nothing about previous cycles tells you what will happen after the next one. The one certain effect is mechanical: fewer new bitcoins are created each day.

For miners the effect is immediate. Their income per block halves overnight, so operators with high electricity costs may switch off. The network then adjusts mining difficulty so that blocks keep arriving roughly every ten minutes.

Does it matter when you buy bitcoin?

Not directly. The halving does not change exchange fees, speed up transactions or alter the bitcoin you already hold. What you pay depends on the platform, the payment method and the spread, which is why prices differ; see why crypto prices differ between exchanges. Our comparer shows which licensed exchange gives you the most bitcoin for your euros right now. Remember that the price of bitcoin can fall sharply at any time, halving or not, and only the MiCA-licensed exchanges are included in our comparison.