Halving
A scheduled event that cuts the reward miners receive for adding new Bitcoin blocks in half.
Halving is a programmed event in Bitcoin that reduces the block subsidy, the newly created bitcoin paid to miners, by 50%. It happens roughly every 210,000 blocks, or about every four years. This rule is built into Bitcoin’s code to control how new coins enter circulation and to support its fixed maximum supply of 21 million bitcoin. Transaction fees are not cut by the halving; they remain separate payments users include to encourage miners to process transactions.
Halvings matter because they slow the rate of new bitcoin issuance, making Bitcoin’s supply schedule predictable. Miners receive fewer new coins after each halving, so their revenue from subsidies falls unless offset by higher fees, higher bitcoin prices, or more efficient operations. A simple comparison is a gold mine whose output is automatically reduced on a set schedule: the mine can still operate, but less new gold reaches the market each period. In Bitcoin, this predictable reduction is part of the system’s monetary design, not a decision made by a company or central authority.
Other terms in Bitcoin
ASIC
A specialized computer chip built to do one task very efficiently, commonly used in Bitcoin mining to perform hashing calculations.
BTC
The ticker symbol for bitcoin, the native currency of the Bitcoin network.
Bitcoin
A decentralized digital currency and payment network that lets people send value without relying on a bank or central authority.
Block Height
A block height is the number that shows a block’s position in a blockchain, counted from the first block.