The Bitcoin Halving Explained

What you’ll learn

• •The halving cuts Bitcoin's block subsidy in half roughly every four years (every 210,000 blocks).
• •It's coded into the protocol and enforced automatically by every node — no company or committee decides it.
• •The original 50 BTC reward has halved multiple times, most recently to roughly 3.125 BTC in April 2024.
• •The 21 million supply cap never changes; the halving only slows the rate new coins are issued, with the last fraction expected around 2140.
• •Reduced new supply doesn't by itself guarantee a price increase — demand matters just as much, and halvings are publicly scheduled years in advance.
• •As block subsidies shrink toward zero, transaction fees are expected to become miners' dominant long-term income source.