What is Halving?
The scheduled event (roughly every 4 years) where Bitcoin's new-coin issuance is cut in half. Next expected 2028.
The halving is Bitcoin's scheduled supply shock: roughly every four years (every 210,000 blocks), the number of new bitcoins created with each block is cut in half. It's the mechanism that enforces the 21 million cap — issuance shrinks geometrically until it effectively reaches zero around 2140.
Halvings matter for two reasons. Economically, each one halves the flow of new supply that miners must sell, tightening the market's structural sell pressure. Culturally, the four-year rhythm has become crypto's calendar — past halvings have preceded major bull markets, though with a sample size of a handful, treating that as a law rather than a pattern is how people get hurt. The countdown page tracks the next one live.
See it in practice
Related terms: Bitcoin · Market cap · HODL · full glossary
FAQ
Does the halving make the price go up?
It mechanically reduces new supply; whether price rises depends on demand, which is not scheduled. Past cycles rallied after halvings, but three or four observations is a pattern, not a promise — and markets increasingly price known events in advance.
What happens to miners when rewards halve?
Their block-reward revenue halves overnight, squeezing inefficient operations out. Over time, transaction fees are designed to replace block rewards as the network's security budget.
General information only, not financial advice. Definitions are maintained in our fact database and reviewed with the daily rebuild.