BitDegree

Bitcoin

April

Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, went through its first-ever halving event 12 years ago today, reducing block rewards from 50 BTC to 25 BTC.
Since then, Bitcoin block rewards — <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/explained/what-is-a-block-reward-explained" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">crypto miners’ incentives</a> for verifying Bitcoin (<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-price" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-price">BTC</a>) transactions and securing the network — have shrunk to 3.125 BTC following <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/learn/articles/bitcoin-halving-how-does-the-halving-cycle-work-and-why-does-it-matter" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">three more halvings</a>, significantly limiting the supply of freshly mined BTC entering the market.
Bitcoin’s 12th halving anniversary comes amid BTC trading close to its all-time high of around $99,600 set on Nov. 22, partly contributed by <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-halving-2024-completion-confirmed" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">Bitcoin’s fourth halving event</a> in April.
<figure>
 <img alt="Mining, Halving, Bitcoin Halving, Supply" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-11/019372ec-1818-7aa7-b1fd-0399b18100ed" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Bitcoin halving dates and block rewards. Source: BitDegree
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As the community celebrates the anniversary of the first Bitcoin halving, Cointelegraph revisited some of the key historical BTC milestones and mining ecosystem changes.
<h2 id="1-2-million-btc-left-to-mine">1.2 million BTC left to mine</h2>
As of Nov. 27, there are 19.8 million BTC in circulating supply, with 1.2 million BTC left to be mined until it reaches the limited supply of 21 million coins.
The 21-million-capped supply of Bitcoin is one of the fundamental principles of the Bitcoin network, designed to provide asset scarcity.
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 <img alt="Mining, Halving, Bitcoin Halving, Supply" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-11/019372eb-5e40-73d3-9d0b-16a76f78ec22" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Total circulating Bitcoin. Source: Blockchain.com
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Although the 1.2 million BTC amount is small relative to the amount of already mined Bitcoin, the mining process of the rest of BTC will require more time and effort from miners due to dropping incentives and increasing mining difficulty.
Now measured at 102.3 trillion, the <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/learn/articles/bitcoin-mining-difficulty-explained" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">Bitcoin mining difficulty</a> rate crossed the 100 trillion mark on Nov. 5 for the first time, <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://minerstat.com/coin/btc/difficulty" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">according</a> to data from MinerStat. The next Bitcoin difficulty adjustment is <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://www.coinwarz.com/mining/bitcoin/difficulty-chart" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">estimated</a> to take place on Dec. 2.
<h2 id="bitcoin-miners-are-far-from-capitulating-as-btc-sets-new-price-records">Bitcoin miners are far from capitulating, as BTC sets new price records</h2>
Despite the challenges presented by higher Bitcoin mining difficulty and lower block rewards, Bitcoin miners are far from capitulating due to the ongoing rally in cryptocurrency markets.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $95,364, up 154% over the past year, <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/bitcoin" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">according</a> to data from CoinGecko. The cryptocurrency has also significantly increased in price since Bitcoin’s latest halving event on April 20, 2024, adding roughly 45% to its value.
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 <img alt="Mining, Halving, Bitcoin Halving, Supply" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-11/019376b3-61ed-7fbc-af09-1bbe9e277f93" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;"></figcaption>
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Despite the rising US-dollar-denominated block rewards enabled by Bitcoin’s rally in 2024, Bitcoin miners have been taking measures to <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-miners-compete-costs-pivot-ai-post-halving-coinshares" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">reduce costs and embrace artificial intelligence</a>, according to a report by the European crypto investment firm CoinShares.
“The Bitcoin mining industry has faced significant challenges this year, with revenues and hash prices declining,” CoinShares said in a mining report in October.
Related: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/us-customs-holds-bitmain-asic-deliveries" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">Bitmain Antminer deliveries held at US ports by customs agency</a>
In July, Bitcoin mining firm <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-miner-terawulf-open-to-merger-not-empire-building" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-miner-terawulf-open-to-merger-not-empire-building">TeraWulf considered a merger</a> due to low profitability margins when BTC traded at around $56,500.
Some major crypto mining firms like <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/largest-bitcoin-mining-firm-sold-63-mined-btc-may" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">Marathon Digital sold significant amounts</a> of mined BTC this year after the fourth halving, citing efforts to improve efficiency and remain competitive. Marathon also turned to aggressive Bitcoin buying, <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/world-s-largest-bitcoin-miner-250-m-raise-buy-bitcoin" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">announcing a $250 million offering</a> of convertible senior notes in August.
On the other hand, El Salvador has increased efforts to seek <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/el-salvador-mines-bitcoin-volcanic-energy" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">alternative Bitcoin mining methods</a> using geothermal volcanic energy.
 Magazine: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/bitcoin-dominance-crypto-predictions-bull-run-benjamin-cowen-hall-of-flame/" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">Bitcoin dominance will fall in 2025: Benjamin Cowen, X Hall of Flame</a>

Bitcoin halving birthday: 12 years of limited supply and milestones

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Cointelegraph

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