The Halving and Difficulty  

Bitcoin’s built-in scarcity protocol and adjustable thermostat.

 

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What is the halving?

Every 210,000 blocks (~4 years), Bitcoin’s block reward gets cut in half. 

 

In 2009 when the genesis block was mined, the reward was 50 Bitcoin per block. By 2012 it was halved to 25 Bitcoin per block, 2016 it was 12.5, and in 2020 the reward was 6.25 Bitcoin per block for miners.

 

Today's current block reward is 3.125 Bitcoin per block. The halving is essential for Bitcoin’s scarcity. The strict schedule of releasing Bitcoin per block and that reward being cut in half every 210,000 blocks ensures a sense of endless demand for Bitcoin.

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Mining difficulty:

Every 2 weeks or so, Bitcoin adjusts its mining puzzle difficulty to keep blocks coming out every ~10 minutes. 

 

 

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​Difficulty has increased 50 million times since 2009.

 

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How do the halving and difficulty work together? 

The Bitcoin halving cuts rewards for miners by 50% meaning miners make less profit. Less profit means some miners will quit and less miners will be contributing to each block. This causes the difficulty to drop and therefore, more blocks for surviving miners. 

 

Think of the halving as a built-in inflation prevention machine and think of the difficulty as Bitcoin adjusting its thermostat every two weeks back to room temperature (maintaining ~10 minutes per block).

 

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Common questions:

When is the next halving?

• The next Bitcoin halving will occur on block 1,050,000 which is expected to happen in April 2028. The new reward for miners will be 1.5625 Bitcoin per block.

Can miners prevent a halving or difficulty adjustment?

• No. These fundamental principles are built into Bitcoin’s code.

What happens when the last Bitcoin is mined?

• When the last Bitcoin is mined (expected in 2140) miners will only profit off the transaction fees associated with each block. There will be no more reward per block.