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The Bitcoin halving, arguably the most important crypto event of the year, is likely to now happen around April 15, according to Nicehash.
This is almost two weeks earlier than the previously anticipated April 28.
The acceleration in the expected date of the halving mirrors the trend observed during the last halving event four years ago.
Bitcoin has so far seen halving events in November 2012, July 2016, and May 2020. The forthcoming halving will decrease mining rewards to 3.125 BTC per block.
This event comes at a time when the world’s premier digital currency soared to a height of $73,664 on March 13 but has since seen a dip.
While speculation around the prices of Bitcoin has been rife, global banking institution Standard Chartered (STAN) has revised its year-end forecast for BTC’s price, projecting a new target of $150,000, up from the previously estimated $100,000.
The bank even anticipates that Bitcoin will attain a peak for the current cycle, reaching a staggering $250,000 in the following year, before stabilizing around $200,000.
The recent introduction of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. market, commencing in January, has been one of the major catalysts of the price rise.
But where did it all start for Bitcoin?
Synonymous with cryptocurrencies and the concept of decentralization as a whole, Bitcoin (BTC) is the “original ” cryptocurrency.
First emerging as a blockchain network and decentralized currency in 2009, the Bitcoin project was invented by the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto, a pseudonym for a person or persons still unknown.
During the early years of its emergence, both the blockchain and the coin were embraced by the dark web, with their anonymity enabling all manner of transactions to be carried out across digital marketplaces. It didn’t, however, take long for Bitcoin to gain legitimacy in the mainstream, with its disruptive power being harnessed to democratize the storing and trading of money.
Over the past 15 years, BTC gained traction in numerous industries and is widely accepted to be a viable asset class (despite its volatility). According to Joe Fortune Bitcoin Casino, the coin can even be used to purchase supercars or play online slots or table games on the platform. Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s DLT blockchain has set the blueprint that’s emulated by practically every altcoin that’s hit the market since.
What is the Bitcoin halving?
Bitcoin is a blockchain network, meaning that new blocks have to be “mined” to facilitate and verify a transaction like sending BTC to a supplier.
During a bitcoin halving event, aka havening, the reward for mining new blocks is halved, resulting in half the number of bitcoins for each verified transaction.
The network was never designed to provide an infinite supply of tokens there will only ever be a maximum of 21 million created. Each halving event is automatically programmed to occur with every 210,000 blocks being mined, an average of every four years.
What are the potential impacts of the halving event?
There have now been four prior halving events, with each one progressively lowering the reward for mining from 50 BTC (3rd January 2009) to 6.25 BTC (11 May 2020).
By looking at the market trends that have emerged around each event, analysts say a tightening supply creates a bullish landscape.
Taking the last event as an example, in April 2020, the price of a single bitcoin leaped to $6,877.62 and surged again to $8,821 on May 11.
Global economic factors made 2020-21 a turbulent year for all financial markets, but despite the volatility, the price of BTC continued to rally and hit $49,540 exactly one year later on 11 May 2021 (reflecting a gain of 533%).
While the economic benefits of mining will significantly reduce again in 2024, potentially resulting in few miners participating during the event, the fact that BTC will become even more scarce following the event could see it achieve a new all-time high valuation record.
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