What is the Bitcoin Halving?
Every 210,000 blocks — roughly four years — the reward miners earn for finding a new block is cut in half. It is one of the most important and predictable events in Bitcoin's monetary policy.
How does it work?
Bitcoin's code was written so that only 21 million BTC will ever exist. New coins enter circulation as block rewards — payments made to miners who validate transactions and secure the network.
When Bitcoin launched in 2009, the reward was 50 BTC per block. After every 210,000 blocks, that reward is cut in half automatically by the protocol. This event is called the halving (or "halvening").
Four halvings, four cycles
Each halving has historically preceded a new Bitcoin bull market — though timing varies and past performance does not guarantee future results.
| # | Date | Block | Reward | Price at Halving | Cycle Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | Nov 28, 2012 | 210,000 | 25 BTC | $12 | $1,150 (Dec 2013) |
| II | Jul 9, 2016 | 420,000 | 12.5 BTC | $650 | $19,800 (Dec 2017) |
| III | May 11, 2020 | 630,000 | 6.25 BTC | $8,600 | $69,000 (Nov 2021) |
| IV | Apr 19, 2024 | 840,000 | 3.125 BTC | $63,700 | Cycle ongoing NOW |
| V | ~2028 | 1,050,000 | 1.5625 BTC | — | — |
Supply, demand, and cycles
Bitcoin's total supply is capped at 21 million coins. As of 2025, over 19.8 million BTC have already been mined. The halving slows new issuance dramatically — by the year 2140, all 21 million will have been mined.
Unlike fiat currencies, which can be printed without limit, Bitcoin has a known and fixed supply schedule. This programmatic scarcity is the foundation of the "digital gold" thesis.
After the 2024 halving, miners receive 3.125 BTC per block. At $80,000 per BTC, that is roughly $450 in reward per block, or around $65,000 per day for the entire network — down from $130,000 before the halving.
This compression of miner revenue forces less efficient miners to shut down, temporarily reducing hash rate before more efficient operations take over. It also reduces sell pressure from miners who previously had to sell more BTC to cover costs.
Why we built this tracker
SpaceCat is a real-time Bitcoin halving dashboard that shows exactly where we are in the current halving cycle. It combines live blockchain data with price history and cycle analytics in a single view.
The tracker connects directly to mempool.space for live block data and uses Binance for price history. All data is fetched client-side — no servers, no tracking, no accounts.
Track the next halving live
Real-time blocks, price history, countdown and cycle analytics — all in one place.
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