Bitcoin BTC
Bitcoin transactions are secure, transparent, immutable, and irreversible. These transactions are pseudonymous, not anonymous like cash is pseudonymous but not anonymous because you can see who it came from and went to.
Bitcoin transactions are made using public keys, which are strings of numbers and letters. These keys are derived from the private keys that users keep safe. When you make a transaction, your public key is seen by everyone on the network. This means no one can spend bitcoins that aren’t theirs to spend (or spend them twice).
Transactions are irreversible: once they’ve been mined into a block and added to the blockchain, they’re permanent! Anyone with access to the internet can view these records at any time.
The supply of bitcoins is capped at 21 million
This means that no more than 21 million bitcoins can be in circulation at any time, regardless of what the price of a coin is. This hard limit on the supply was built into Bitcoin by its creator (or creators), Satoshi Nakamoto, who wanted to make sure that there would never be more than 21 million coins in circulation. This cap will be reached sometime in 2140 when all 21 million bitcoins have been mined and are held by users around the world.
In addition to being limited by code, this limit is also enforced by software that automatically prevents any user from generating new blocks with more than 50 BTC per block or adding more coins after reaching said cap–which makes it illegal for anyone to create new tokens without permission from miners who control whether or not such transactions go through (and get paid for doing so).
The BTC network is coded to halve
In a message posted on bitcointalk.org, Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin, revealed the code behind the halving:
“The number of coins created in each block is halved every 210,000 blocks. The first time was 50 bitcoin per block, then 25, then 12.5 and so on… The only thing that will be left constant is that there will always be 21 million bitcoins created over time until we reach a maximum cap (21 million)”
According to that post, there will never be more than 21 million Bitcoins available in total. However, there are currently 17 million Bitcoins in circulation and some experts believe that this number could increase due to lost coins being discovered someday in future years as well as people mining more cryptocurrencies as they become more popular with investors around the world.
The bitcoin (BTC) network is designed to algorithmically reduce the number of new bitcoins that are created and issued over time. The network does this by reducing the block reward (the amount of bitcoin given to miners as an incentive for them to validate transactions and secure the network).
The halving process
To understand what a Bitcoin halving event is, you first need to understand what mining is. Mining is the process of confirming blocks of transactions on the blockchain and receiving new bitcoins in return. Miners receive newly created bitcoins as a reward for solving mathematical problems and then adding those confirmed transactions to the blockchain. The first block ever mined was known as the genesis block and took place on January 3rd, 2009.
Since that time, every 210,000th block (known as an epoch) has been rewarded with half of its predecessors total mining reward (the other half goes to pay transaction fees). All miners who were actively mining at that point received their reward in full before it was divided into two parts: one half stayed with them while another half went towards paying down future transaction fees which could happen within minutes or even days depending on how many blocks have gone by since then!
BTC reward halving
As mentioned, bitcoin halving reduces the block reward.
In July 2016, Bitcoin’s block rewards halved from 25 BTC per block to 12.5 BTC per block, leading to a significant drop in supply and an increase in demand as more people wanted to acquire bitcoin as an investment alternative or currency with less volatility than fiat currencies (e.g., US dollars).
Since Bitcoin has been programmed to have a finite supply: there will only ever be 21 million bitcoins created. When Satoshi Nakamoto released his white paper introducing Bitcoin back in January 2009, he embedded into its code that every 210,000 blocks mined would mean two things: 1) halving of rewards; 2) increase in difficulty level.
The halving process, then and now
When bitcoin was created in 2009, each new block had 50 BTC of rewards attached to it. This amount halves after every 210,000 blocks (about every 4 years). In 2016 halving occurred, reducing the rate from 25 BTC per block to 12.5 BTC per block. The last one in 2020 reduced it further to 6.25 BTC per block. They say that halving typically takes place every four years.
When is the next bitcoin halving?
If you’re wondering about the next bitcoin halving, you’re not alone. A lot of people are asking this question as we approach 2024, which will bring us a bit closer to another halving event.
Yet, with popularity growth the next halving or 210,000 blocks might occur before 2024.
Bitcoin is not made up of paper and ink. Instead, it is represented by a chain of digital signatures.
Bitcoin is not made up of paper and ink. Instead, it is represented by a chain of digital signatures.
Digital signatures are used to verify the authenticity of bitcoin transactions. They are also what protect your bitcoin from being stolen or double-spent in an unauthorized way. This means that even if someone else gets their hands on your private key, they still can’t use it to access your bitcoin (or any other cryptocurrency).
Bitcoin’s decentralized nature means that there’s no central authority running things—and so no one person can decide how much Bitcoin earns in interest every year or dictate how many new bitcoins are created each day
Conclusion
I hope this article has provided ample information around Bitcoin and bitcoin halving. It’s a unique process and one that makes it possible for people around the world to participate in a global financial system without sacrificing privacy or security.