A Bitcoin halving is the moment, every 210,000 blocks, when the number of new bitcoin created with each block is cut in half. It is written into Bitcoin's software and happens roughly every four years. The most recent halving was in April 2024, when the reward per block fell from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. The next one is expected in 2028, at block 1,050,000, when the reward drops to 1.5625 BTC. The exact date depends on how fast blocks are found.
What a halving does is simple: it slows the rate at which new bitcoin enter circulation, on a fixed schedule, toward the 21 million limit. What it does not do is tell you what the price will do. Anyone who says a halving means the price must go up is selling you a story, not a fact.
The short answer
- Every 210,000 blocks, the reward for adding a block is halved.
- Halvings so far: November 2012, July 2016, May 2020 and April 2024.
- April 2024 was the fourth, at block 840,000. Reward: 6.25 to 3.125 BTC.
- Next: block 1,050,000, expected in 2028. Reward: 3.125 to 1.5625 BTC.
- The total supply will never exceed 21 million.
Why Bitcoin's issuance is cut in half every 210,000 blocks
New bitcoin come into existence one way only. The computers that add blocks of transactions to the chain, called miners, receive a reward for each block they add. That reward is how new coins are issued, and it is also how miners are paid to secure the network.
If the reward stayed the same forever, the supply would grow forever. Bitcoin's design does the opposite. It started with a larger reward and cuts it in half every 210,000 blocks. Blocks come about every ten minutes on average, so 210,000 blocks takes roughly four years.
The effect is a supply curve that rises quickly at first and then flattens. Each halving adds fewer new coins than the period before. The reward keeps halving until it becomes too small to divide below one satoshi, which is far in the future. By then, miners are expected to rely on transaction fees rather than new coins.
Nobody votes on a halving. No committee decides it. It happens because the software running on thousands of computers says so, and every node checks that miners follow the rule. For me that predictability is one of the most beautiful parts of Bitcoin: a monetary policy you can read in advance, that nobody can change on a whim.
If you want to see this for yourself, the rule is in Bitcoin's open-source code, and anyone can check the current block height on a public block explorer. You do not have to trust me, or anyone, on when a halving is coming.
The 2024 halving in numbers
The fourth halving came in April 2024 at block 840,000, which is exactly four times 210,000. Before it, each new block created 6.25 BTC. After it, 3.125 BTC.
In practice, that means roughly half as many new bitcoin entering circulation each day as before. Miners who were earning a certain number of bitcoin per block overnight earned half as many, and had to adjust: run more efficiently, find cheaper power, or switch off older machines.
When the next one is expected
The fifth halving will happen at block 1,050,000. Based on the usual pace of about one block every ten minutes, it is expected in 2028. The exact day cannot be fixed in advance, because block times vary with how much computing power is on the network. As the date gets closer, people estimate it from the current block height and recent block times.
After that halving, the reward will be 1.5625 BTC per block.
What a halving does not tell you about price
This is the most important section, so I will be direct.
I co-founded Unocoin in 2013. Since then I have watched the 2016, 2020 and 2024 halvings from inside an Indian exchange. Every time, the halving did exactly what the code said it would do: it cut new issuance in half, on schedule. Every time, people around it were confident about what the price would do next, in both directions. The code was right every time. The predictions were not.
Price is set by people buying and selling. A slower flow of new coins is one input. Demand, the global economy, regulation, interest rates, fear and greed are others. A halving is known years in advance by everyone, which is exactly why it is not a secret edge for anyone.
So when you see a video saying "the halving is coming, buy now", treat it the way you would treat anyone promising a return. Walk away. Bitcoin is volatile, crypto is unregulated in India, and there may be no regulatory recourse for loss. If you buy, buy because you understand what you are buying, in an amount you could hold through a sharp fall, not because of a date on a calendar.
One more honest note. The halving story is often told as if supply alone sets the price. But the coins already mined far outnumber the new ones issued each day, and the people holding them can sell whenever they choose. A halving changes one flow. It does not control the rest of the market.
What happens to miners after a halving
Miners' reward in bitcoin is cut in half overnight. Their costs, mostly electricity and machines, are not. Some become unprofitable and switch off. Others upgrade to more efficient equipment or move to cheaper power.
Bitcoin has a built-in adjustment for this. Roughly every two weeks, the network adjusts how hard it is to find a block, so blocks keep coming at about ten-minute intervals whether more or fewer miners are running. That is why halvings have passed without the network stopping.
How a halving connects to the 21 million cap
The halving is the mechanism that enforces the cap. Add up all the rewards, halving every 210,000 blocks, and the total approaches 21 million without crossing it. There will only ever be 21 million bitcoin, and that limit is fixed in the software.
That is also why a halving matters more as an idea than as an event. Each one is a reminder that Bitcoin's supply schedule is public, fixed and followed, through every cycle. For a country like India, where families have trusted gold for generations because it cannot be printed, that idea tends to land quickly.
What a halving means for you as a small buyer
Very little, day to day. If you buy ₹100 of Bitcoin, you are buying satoshis on a platform at the current price, before or after a halving. If you are on a Systematic Buying Plan, it keeps buying the same rupee amount on schedule, halving or not. That is the point of a plan: it does not try to time events.
Tax does not change at a halving either. Profit when you sell is taxed at 30% plus 4% cess on the tax, 1% TDS applies on sales above the yearly threshold, and losses cannot be set off. Check your situation with a CA.
If you want to ask follow-up questions, like why the reward started where it did or what happens when it reaches zero, our AI guide on the home page will explain in English or Hindi, without predictions or advice. The Learn page covers the basics too.
Common questions
When is the next Bitcoin halving?
At block 1,050,000, expected in 2028. The exact date depends on how fast blocks are found, so it can only be estimated as it gets closer.
What happens to miners after a halving?
Their reward in bitcoin per block is cut in half. Less efficient miners may switch off, and the network adjusts difficulty about every two weeks so blocks keep coming roughly every ten minutes.
Does the halving make Bitcoin's price go up?
Nobody can say. A halving reduces new supply on a known schedule, but price depends on many other factors. Treat any halving price promise as a red flag.
How many halvings are left?
Many. The reward keeps halving every 210,000 blocks until it becomes too small to divide below one satoshi, far in the future. The supply never exceeds 21 million.