5.11[Market Insights & Analysis](https://wealtii.com/learn) # Bitcoin Halving Explained: Dates, Next Halving & Price Impact By [Zayd Ahmed](https://wealtii.com/editorial-policy#zayd-ahmed), Founder & CEO, Wealtii · Published 11 August 2026 · Last reviewed 21 October 2026 The **Bitcoin halving** is a rule in Bitcoin's code that cuts the new-coin reward paid to miners in half every 210,000 blocks, roughly every four years. The fourth halving, on 19 April 2024 (US time; 00:09 UTC on 20 April), cut the reward from 6.25 to 3.125 BTC per block. The next is expected around March–April 2028. ## How does the Bitcoin halving work? New bitcoin enters circulation only through the block subsidy: the reward the protocol pays to whichever miner adds the next block, on top of the transaction fees users pay. Miners compete using proof of work (see [how miners add blocks to the blockchain](https://wealtii.com/learn/how-blocks-are-added)), and the network adjusts mining difficulty every 2,016 blocks so that blocks arrive about every 10 minutes on average. The subsidy started at 50 BTC in January 2009 and halves every 210,000 blocks. Because 210,000 blocks at ten minutes each take about four years, halvings arrive roughly every four years. Repeated halving makes total issuance converge on 20,999,999.9769 BTC, just under 21 million, with the last fraction expected to be mined around the year 2140 (Bitcoin Wiki). ## When were the Bitcoin halvings, and when is the next one? | Event | Block | Date (UTC) | Block subsidy | Share of 21M issued by then | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Genesis block | 0 | 3 Jan 2009 | 50 BTC | 0% | | 1st halving | 210,000 | 28 Nov 2012 | 50 → 25 BTC | 50% | | 2nd halving | 420,000 | 9 Jul 2016 | 25 → 12.5 BTC | 75% | | 3rd halving | 630,000 | 11 May 2020 | 12.5 → 6.25 BTC | 87.5% | | 4th halving | 840,000 | 20 Apr 2024 (19 Apr in US time zones) | 6.25 → 3.125 BTC | 93.75% | | 5th halving (expected) | 1,050,000 | About Mar–Apr 2028 (estimate) | 3.125 → 1.5625 BTC | 96.875% | At block 972,416 on 21 October 2026, 77,584 blocks remained before the fifth halving. At exactly ten minutes per block that is about 539 days, or around 12 April 2028. Blocks have recently averaged about 9.5 minutes (mempool.space), which would bring the date into March 2028. Along the way, the 20 millionth bitcoin was mined at block 940,000 on 9 March 2026. ## How much new bitcoin is created after the 2024 halving? At 3.125 BTC per block and about 144 blocks a day, miners now receive roughly 450 new bitcoin a day, or about 164,000 a year. Against the roughly 20.10 million BTC in circulation on 21 October 2026 (CoinGecko), that is new supply of about 0.8% a year. After the 2028 halving it will fall to about 225 BTC a day, or around 0.4% a year. In dollar terms, 450 BTC was worth about $37 million at the 21 October 2026 price of roughly $82,700, while about $27 billion of bitcoin changed hands in the previous 24 hours (CoinGecko). New issuance is now a small fraction of daily trading, which is one reason later halvings may move the price less than early ones did. For miners, a halving cuts subsidy revenue in half overnight. Operators with expensive electricity or older machines can become unprofitable and switch off, which can slow the growth of the network's hash rate for a while. Even after four halvings, Bitcoin's hash rate was about 1,049 exahashes per second on 21 October 2026 (mempool.space). ## Does the Bitcoin halving make the price go up? Bitcoin's price was higher a year after every halving so far, but the effect has shrunk sharply: | Halving date | Price on halving day | Price 12 months later | Change | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 28 Nov 2012 | $12.33 | $1,007 | +8,069% | | 9 Jul 2016 | $652 | $2,506 | +284% | | 11 May 2020 | $8,592 | $56,612 | +559% | | 20 Apr 2024 | $64,908 | $85,102 | +31% | The supply-and-demand logic is simple: if demand holds steady while new supply falls, prices tend to rise. But demand does not hold steady. Interest rates, ETF flows, regulation and leverage all moved during each cycle. The halving date is public years in advance, so traders can buy ahead of it; in 2024 Bitcoin set a record close a month before the halving. And four examples are far too few to separate cause from coincidence. The halving has historically coincided with the early part of Bitcoin's [four-year market cycle](https://wealtii.com/learn/crypto-market-cycles), which is a weaker claim than saying it causes bull markets. ## Why did Satoshi Nakamoto design the halving? The Bitcoin whitepaper, published in October 2008, describes new coins as an incentive for the nodes that support the network, and adds that "once a predetermined number of coins have entered circulation, the incentive can transition entirely to transaction fees and be completely inflation free." The halving schedule is how that predetermined number is reached gradually rather than all at once. It is one of the clearest examples of [tokenomics and supply schedules](https://wealtii.com/learn/tokenomics-supply-and-demand) in practice: a supply rule written into open-source code that anyone can check, and that changes only if the network agrees to change it. ## What happens when the block reward reaches zero? Around 2140 the subsidy rounds down to nothing, and miners will be paid only through transaction fees. Whether fees alone will fund enough mining to keep the network secure is an open debate. Bitcoin's [proof-of-work security model](https://wealtii.com/learn/consensus-mechanisms-pow-pos) depends on miners finding it profitable to keep hashing, so the fee market matters more with every halving. If you hold bitcoin through a wrapped token such as BTCB (Binance-Peg Bitcoin, the BNB Chain token that Wealtii's funds hold), the halving affects you only through Bitcoin's price; the wrapper adds the risk of Binance, the custodian whose BTC backs it. Our guide to [what BTCB is and how it is backed](https://wealtii.com/learn/what-is-btcb) explains the trade-offs. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### When is the next Bitcoin halving? The fifth halving will happen at block 1,050,000, when the block subsidy falls from 3.125 to 1.5625 BTC. On 21 October 2026, 77,584 blocks remained, which points to roughly March or April 2028. The exact date depends on how quickly blocks are mined. ### How many Bitcoin halvings have there been? Four: on 28 November 2012 (block 210,000), 9 July 2016 (block 420,000), 11 May 2020 (block 630,000) and 20 April 2024 in UTC (block 840,000), which was the evening of 19 April in US time zones. ### What is the Bitcoin block reward now? Since the April 2024 halving, the block subsidy is 3.125 BTC per block, plus the transaction fees paid by users. With about 144 blocks a day, that is roughly 450 new bitcoin per day. ### Does the Bitcoin halving always raise the price? No. Bitcoin's price was higher 12 months after each of the four halvings, but the gain shrank from about 8,069% after 2012 to about 31% after 2024 (Coin Metrics daily closes). Other factors moved at the same time, and four examples are too few to treat as a rule. ## Sources & References 1. [Satoshi Nakamoto — Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System (whitepaper, 2008)](https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf) (accessed 21 Oct 2026) 2. [Bitcoin Wiki — Controlled supply (halving schedule and supply limit)](https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Controlled_supply) (accessed 21 Oct 2026) 3. [mempool.space — Bitcoin block 840,000 (fourth halving)](https://mempool.space/block-height/840000) (accessed 21 Oct 2026) 4. [Coin Metrics — Community network data (BTC daily reference price)](https://coinmetrics.io/community-network-data/) (accessed 21 Oct 2026) 5. [CoinGecko API — /coins/markets endpoint (price, circulating supply, 24-hour volume)](https://docs.coingecko.com/reference/coins-markets) (accessed 21 Oct 2026) Disclaimer: This content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, or legal advice. Digital assets are volatile and you can lose all of the money you invest. Past performance, including previous halving cycles, does not guarantee future results. Wealtii is not registered with or authorised by any financial regulator. ## Further reading from official sources - [CFTC: Digital assets and customer advisories](https://www.cftc.gov/LearnAndProtect/AdvisoriesAndArticles/CustomerAdvisories) - [BIS: Cryptoassets and decentralised finance](https://www.bis.org/topics/fintech/crypto.htm) [Zayd Ahmed](https://wealtii.com/editorial-policy#zayd-ahmed) Founder & CEO, Wealtii Computer Science Engineer | 5+ Years in DeFi & Digital Assets