At this point, no one knows what day the next Bitcoin halving will happen. Here’s why the date is drawing nearer!
Bitcoin’s periodic halving event is set to occur within the latter half of April 2024. The date has inched closer within the past few months as mining activities step up. A similar pattern occurred four years back when the leading cryptocurrency saw its last halving.
What Causes Bitcoin Halving Date Fluctuation?
Bitcoin halving is an event that occurs every four years where the number of BTC produced in each block reduces by half. Bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, programmed the halving to occur after 210,000 blocks are added to the mainnet. Note that new blocks are produced approximately every 10 minutes. The mechanism is established to decrease the inflation of the cryptocurrency.
The upcoming Bitcoin halving will bring the mined bitcoins from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. A few months ago, the halving was set to occur on April 28th, 2024. The date shifted to April 15th and April 19th over time. Today, the halving event is expected to occur on April 25th, according to data from crypto mining platform NiceHash.
The main reason for the fluctuation is the surge in the Bitcoin hash rate. It refers to the speed of mining activities, the process through which new blocks are added to the Bitcoin network. Since BTC’s recent price surge began, several Bitcoin mining companies have stepped up their mining capacity by adding more powerful mining machines and reviving old ones. This way, they get their slice of the 6.25 BTC reward before it ends.
With the increase in hash rate from miners, block production occurs faster than before. Hence, the date for the next halving keeps fluctuating to match the block production speed.
Impact on BTC’s Price
Historic records have shown that BTC’s price consolidates at a new all-time high (ATH) after every halving event. The dynamics behind this is that when BTC’s demand increases and mining reward reduces, there will be a surge in demand for the asset, thereby pushing the price to new heights.
The asset’s price has touched a peak of $73,700 ahead of the halving event. Market experts predict that BTC will reach as high as $200,000 or more after the halving occurs. Meanwhile, BTC trades at $63,000 at press time, signalling a 6% drop in the past 24 hours.
