Bitcoin halving birthday: 12 years of limited supply and milestones

Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, went through its first-ever halving event 12 years ago today, reducing block rewards from 50 BTC to 25 BTC.

Since then, Bitcoin block rewards — crypto miners’ incentives for verifying Bitcoin (BTC) transactions and securing the network — have shrunk to 3.125 BTC following three more halvings, significantly limiting the supply of freshly mined BTC entering the market.

Bitcoin’s 12th halving anniversary comes amid BTC trading close to its all-time high of around $99,600 set on Nov. 22, partly contributed by Bitcoin’s fourth halving event in April.

Bitcoin halving dates and block rewards. Source: BitDegree

As the community celebrates the anniversary of the first Bitcoin halving, Cointelegraph revisited some of the key historical BTC milestones and mining eco changes.

1.2 million BTC left to mine

As of Nov. 27, there are 19.8 million BTC in circulating supply, with 1.2 million BTC left to be mined until it reaches the limited supply of 21 million coins.

The 21-million-capped supply of Bitcoin is one of the fundamental principles of the Bitcoin network, designed to provide asset scarcity.

Total circulating Bitcoin. Source: Blockchain.com

Although the 1.2 million BTC amount is small relative to the amount of already mined Bitcoin, the mining process of the rest of BTC will require more time and effort from miners due to dropping incentives and increasing mining difficulty.

Now measured at 102.3 trillion, the Bitcoin mining difficulty rate crossed the 100 trillion mark on Nov. 5 for the first time, according to data from MinerStat. The next Bitcoin difficulty adjustment is estimated to take place on Dec. 2.

Bitcoin miners are far from capitulating, as BTC sets new price records

Despite the challenges presented by higher Bitcoin mining difficulty and lower block rewards, Bitcoin miners are far from capitulating due to the ongoing rally in cryptocurrency markets.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $95,364, up 154% over the past year, according to data from CoinGecko. The cryptocurrency has also significantly increased in price since Bitcoin’s latest halving event on April 20, 2024, adding roughly 45% to its value.

Despite the rising US-dollar-denominated block rewards enabled by Bitcoin’s rally in 2024, Bitcoin miners have been taking measures to reduce costs and embrace artificial intelligence, according to a report by the European crypto investment firm CoinShares.

“The Bitcoin mining industry has faced significant challenges this year, with revenues and hash prices declining,” CoinShares said in a mining report in October.

Related: Bitmain Antminer deliveries held at US ports by customs agency

In July, Bitcoin mining firm TeraWulf considered a merger due to low profitability margins when BTC traded at around $56,500.

Some major crypto mining firms like Marathon Digital sold significant amounts of mined BTC this year after the fourth halving, citing efforts to improve efficiency and remain competitive. Marathon also turned to aggressive Bitcoin buying, announcing a $250 million offering of convertible senior notes in August.

On the other hand, El Salvador has increased efforts to seek alternative Bitcoin mining methods using geothermal volcanic energy.

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