Final Countdown Begins: Less than 100 Blocks remaining until Bitcoin Halving

2024-04-20 by Ndaman Olayinka 5 minutes read
Final Countdown Begins: Less than 100 Blocks remaining until Bitcoin Halving

The highly anticipated fourth Bitcoin halving event, expected to cut the reward for mining new blocks by 50%, reducing it from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC per block, is set to take place in a few hours with 100 blocks remaining.

The estimated time for Bitcoin’s fourth halving is scheduled to take place at around 00:04 AM GMT in the early hours of Saturday, according to the CoinGecko live Bitcoin Halving Countdown page.

Since there will only ever be 21 million bitcoins, the halving event, which occurs after every 210,000 bitcoins are mined, serves to create more scarcity. This was written into Bitcoin's code at its inception by creator Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009 with the goal of making a digital currency without a central authority.

The maximum total supply of Bitcoin is 21 million in existence and is scheduled to be mined through the year 2140.

Previous halving events have shown that the BTC price always increases to new all-time highs. But this time, things might be different. This is why.

A bull run occurred months after the third halving in history on May 11, 2020, with Bitcoin reaching new all-time highs above $60,000 USD in 2021. However, as of the day of the halving, the price of BTC increased from $8821.42 to $10,943 after 150 days. This delayed effect on price is assumed to be caused by various factors, including the global pandemic and institutional investment.

This fourth halving is happening at a time when it is difficult to predict the cryptocurrency market.

Prior to the halving, the spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds brought so much attention to the market, which made Bitcoin reach its all-time high. In March, bitcoin's price surged to an all-time high of $73,803.25.

The level of enthusiasm is so great that the price will rise to $100,000 and beyond. However, the likelihood of hitting a high price is being dampened by the conflict in the Middle East and high inflation.

Should the conflict between Iran and Israel turn into a war, we might experience oil and gas supply shortages leading to high prices. This might have a negative impact on Bitcoin's price and slow global economic growth.

With 100 blocks remaining, the halving of 2024 might be very difficult to predict because of the various complex factors at play, and this is way more than what we witnessed in 2012, 2016, and 2020. No one can accurately predict if the price will slump further or pull back after a while.

Disclaimer: This information should not be considered financial advice by any means. Please do your own research before making any investment decisions. The views in the articles are personal opinions only. Whale Insider is not responsible for any financial losses incurred.