New bitcoins are issued by the Bitcoin network every 10 minutes. For the first four years of Bitcoin’s existence, the number of new bitcoins issued every 10 minutes was 50. Every four years, this number gets cut in half.
In 2012, the number of new bitcoins issued every 10 minutes dropped from 50 BTC to 25 BTC. In 2016, it dropped from 25 BTC to 12.5 BTC.
Now, in the 2020 halving, on around the 12th of May, the reward for unlocking a new block on the Bitcoin blockchain will drop from 12.5 BTC to 6.25 BTC. It will, of course, impact miner profitability by cutting rewards in half.
Let’s take a look at the aftermath effect of previous halvings as an example of what we could expect from the upcoming event.
2012 Halving
The 2012 block halving was the first halving and happened on the 28th of November 2012.
New BTC Per Block Before: 50 BTC per block
New BTC Per Block After: 25 BTC per block
Price of BTC on Halving Day: $12.35
Price of BTC 150 Days Later: $127.00
2016 Halving
The second halving occurred on the 9th of July 2016.
New BTC Per Block Before: 25 BTC per block
New BTC Per Block After: 12.5 BTC per block
Price of BTC on Halving Day: $650.63
Price of BTC 150 Days Later: $758.81
Looking at two previous examples, we can observe a positive trend when it comes to BTC gaining value.
