Twice as slow. With the ” halving” which is due to happen this weekend, bitcoins will appear twice as slowly. This phenomenon occurs every four years.
This duration is not arbitrary. It corresponds to the time necessary for “ miner » 210,000 data blocks online. Bitcoin is in fact a reward given in exchange for solving complex calculations, which Internet users carry out using powerful computers. These calculations are grouped into blocks of data, which deliver bitcoins once someone has completed them. On average, a block is “ mined” every ten minutes.
READ ALSO The entry of bitcoin onto Wall Street, a consecrationOr, le « halving” halves the amount of bitcoins earned per data block. When the cryptocurrency was created in 2009, a block gave 50 bitcoins to the person who “ was undermining.” Since then, three halvings” have taken place and the quantity today is 6.25 bitcoins per block.
One bitcoin was worth $73,000 in March 2024
With this new “halving”, a block will now only generate 3,125 bitcoins. The date of the phenomenon, which is automatic because it is integrated into the game code, is impossible to predict precisely due to the variability of the time spent “mining” a block. The various specialized sites, however, agree in estimating that the reduction in rewards will take place on the night of Friday April 19 to Saturday April 20.
READ ALSO “You should not believe in the martingale”: should you invest in bitcoin? Until now, each halving” has been accompanied by a surge in the value of bitcoin, because it is simply becoming more difficult to obtain. In March 2024, bitcoin broke its all-time high, trading at over $73,000 per unit. More than 19 million bitcoins have already been generated in fifteen years, while their total quantity is limited to 21 million. At the rate of halvings occurring every four years, the last block should be mined in 2140.
In addition to the fashion effect that has accompanied the rise of cryptocurrencies in recent years, the interest in bitcoin lies in the technology used to generate it. Called “ blockchain” (block chain), it is appreciated for its high security, reputed to be inviolable.
