s there a more highly anticipated event in the crypto community than the Bitcoin Halvening which happens every four years?
At the time of writing, this year's halving will take place in exactly 27 days, 7 hours, 44 minutes and 13 seconds. Why the hype, you ask?
Well, imagine if someone told you there's a chance that the value of the assets that you own could very likely surge during a particular event. Would you then mark your calendar accordingly and follow closely? Position yourself for the best possible chance for high profitability? Or would you merely shrug your shoulders and say "meh."?
If you chose the former, then this article is for you, and you're in good company. This month, everyone from financial experts to cryptocurrency enthusiasts is quite literally counting down the seconds to this year's halvening event.
Check out the countdown clock the folks at CoinGecko have on their website.
Source: CoinGecko.com
In this article, we'll cover:
Every four years or so after the creation of 210,000 new blocks of Bitcoin. The number of Bitcoins generated per block is "halved". As in reduced by half, lowered by 50%, or divided by 2.
Right now, Bitcoin miners generate 12.5 Bitcoins for every block they mine. After the next halvening, they'll generate 6.25 Bitcoins for every block they mine. This is the third time Bitcoin blocks are being halved.
Why does this happen? The halvening is a protocol set in stone by the founder of Bitcoin to ensure that the supply of Bitcoin becomes more and more limited over the years.
Why the protocol? What do you value more? A bar of gold or a plastic bag? One is far more easily obtainable than the other. The less there is of something, the more valuable it is.
Will Bitcoin be halved forever? Only until 21 million Bitcoins are generated. This is also set in stone.
Around 18.3 million.
When will we reach 21 million Bitcoins? By the year 2140.
When was the first Bitcoin halving? On November 28, 2012, when 210,000 Bitcoin blocks had been created, the volume of Bitcoins generated per block was halved from 50 Bitcoins per block to 25 Bitcoins per block.
When was the second Bitcoin halving? On July 9, 2016, when 420,000 Bitcoins blocks had been created, the volume of Bitcoins generated per block was halved from 25 Bitcoins per block to 12.5 Bitcoins per block.
When will the third Bitcoin halving take place? On May 24, 2020, when the 630,000th block of Bitcoin is created, the volume of Bitcoins generated per block will be halved from 12.5 Bitcoins per block to 6.25 Bitcoins per block.
Who cares about Bitcoin? In a time of closed borders and closed businesses, Bitcoin matters more than ever. The cryptocurrency showed remarkable resilience this month even as it suffered a beating due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Falling only 6.4% on the year, compared to JP Morgan's 26% dip, Bank of America's 29% fall, and Citigroup's 40% plunge. With a market capitalization of around US$122.8 billion at the time of writing, Bitcoin now has a larger market capitalization than Citigroup whose market cap currently stands at around US$100 billion.
What should I do now? Head over to Remitano.com to invest in some Bitcoin before this year's halving or read on if you need more convincing.
A few things are generally known to happen after a halving exercise:
Source: TheBlockCrypto.com
For instance, Bitcoin's price saw a steady rise after both its 2012 and 2016 halving exercises.
In 2012, Bitcoin's price rose above US$1,000 for the first time around a year after its halving exercise.
In 2016, Bitcoin's price, which was hovering around US$660 at the time, surged to over US$2,000 after its halving.
Meanwhile, major cryptocurrency investors surveyed say that they expect this year's Bitcoin price to reach an average of US$22,866 after the halving in May, up from the current average of US$6,838.
If you'd like to learn more about exactly what industry experts are saying about the halving, click here to check out a post we wrote summarizing what experts have said about the matter.
Will the 2020 halving prove to be as profitable as the previous two cycles, or even more perhaps? While it remains to be seen if this year's halving will indeed break previous price surge records as some experts predict, current trends suggest that the excitement around this year's halving might break the internet first.
According to Google Trends, interest in this year's Bitcoin halving has already surpassed that of 2016's halving --- and we're still a month away from this year's event!
Source: Google Trends
The surge of interest is understandable, of course, as many are looking for a safe haven to park their cash amidst a global pandemic that spares no country.
What other digital currencies are there? A few popular ones include Ethereum (ETH), Tether (USDT), Ripple (XRP), Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). Check out this article to learn more about them.
And if you still need convincing, do check out this article to learn more about what happened in Malaysia's cryptocurrency industry in 2019 and for some perspective on whether Malaysians should invest in Bitcoin (or cryptocurrencies in general) this year.
Once you're ready, be sure to hop on over to Remitano.com to get started for fr
