Bitcoin has passed its momentous ‘halving’ event a few days ago- This is the third time in its history that the rate of producing new units of the cryptocurrency is cut in half. Blocks of Bitcoin will now contain only 6.25 units, rather than 12.5, when they are mined. The Bitcoin halving is automatically taking place roughly every 4 years and is designed as an anti-inflationary measure to ensure the scarcity of Bitcoin. More than 18 million Bitcoins have been mined since its inception in 2009, however, the halving events mean that it will take until the year 2140 for all 21 million bitcoins to be mined.
Previous halving events resulted in record price surges. So, there might be another Bitcoin resulting bull run around the corner. Bitcoin’s current price of $8,787 remains a long way off its $20,000 high, which it reached in 2017 after the second halving event. The 2016 halving triggered a 300% jump in the value of Bitcoin. There is no reason to believe this time the market will not respond with a longer-term upward trend. Indeed, the rally which is likely on its way could potentially be even more dramatic because there is more mass awareness than ever before of the long-term use of and need for digital currencies.
Sven Franssen