Key Points
- Bitcoin halving, a process that reduces the amount of Bitcoin that can be mined by 50% every 210,000 blocks, makes Bitcoin scarcer and enhances its value.
- The upcoming 2024 halving is expected to significantly impact the mining landscape, forcing miners to seek affordable energy sources and optimize their equipment.
The Bitcoin halving is a predetermined process embedded in the Bitcoin protocol. It halves the amount of Bitcoin that can be mined per block every 210,000 blocks, which happens approximately every four years. In a few days, the reward for mining a block will decrease from 6.25 Bitcoin to 3.125 Bitcoin.
Effects of Bitcoin Halving
This halving event makes Bitcoin even more limited, acting as a deflationary measure and strengthening its position as a value store. While Bitcoin investors may welcome the anticipated post-halving price increase, miners will face a tough challenge as they compete for fewer Bitcoin rewards. The miners, who depend on the market price of the Bitcoin they mine, will be the most impacted by the halving.
The 2024 halving could dramatically change the mining landscape. Miners will be compelled to find cheaper energy sources and make significant adjustments to their mining equipment. These changes could lead to substantial shifts in the Bitcoin mining industry, which is of interest to all Bitcoin holders.
Preparation for the Halving
Alejandro De La Torre, the founder and CEO of mining pool Demand, expressed his excitement about the halving, stating that it always brings about changes and opens up opportunities for new entrants in the industry. However, a market shake-up may mean that some miners will disappear.
The profitability of miners is closely tied to the price of Bitcoin. If the price doesn’t rise enough to compensate for the block reward reduction, older miner models will become inefficient. De La Torre also noted that the continuous growth of the global Bitcoin hash rate might indicate that miners are already upgrading their equipment in preparation for the halving.
The Bitcoin hash rate, which refers to the computational power that validates and secures Bitcoin network transactions, suggests the level of mining activity in Bitcoin’s blockchain. Bitcoin miners who fail to adapt and evolve won’t survive in the long run.
Global Distribution of Bitcoin Miners
When it comes to the global distribution of Bitcoin miners, the United States controls the most mining power at nearly 38%. However, the distribution of mining worldwide largely depends on the energy costs to run mining rigs. The mining cost of 1 Bitcoin can vary significantly depending on the country a miner is in.
The halving could present a great opportunity for countries or regions with low purchasing power, with old-generation mining rigs flooding the market. De La Torre suggested that new regions might emerge as profitable places for mining, such as the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America.
Centralization Threat to Bitcoin
One of the key values of cryptocurrencies, particularly Bitcoin, is decentralization. However, with each halving, mining Bitcoin becomes more challenging as larger mining rigs are needed, and the difficulty of mining Bitcoin increases. This could risk centralizing the Bitcoin mining industry.
De la Torre believes that large players with money will be able to expand their mining fleet even further. However, others disagree, stating that there are strong natural economic forces that prevent centralization. The open-source structure and the game theory on which Bitcoin is based do not allow it to centralize, irrespective of the epoch or halving.
The halving is a liquidity shock for miners and the market. Bitcoin’s programmed nature provides predictable behavior that prudent miners will survive. The halving could be understood as a purging of non-efficient miners, which eventually should improve Bitcoin’s mining infrastructure.