Wybo Wiersma – a 40-year-old Oxford University graduate – has been sentenced to four and a half years in prison after scamming over $2 million in crypto from unsuspecting victims. Following his arrest in 2019, the Dutchman was extradited from the Netherlands back to the United Kingdom (UK) in 2021. Following a five-year investigation by the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU), he pled guilty on January 26 to the Oxford Crown Court. A Five-Year Investigation As reported by…
What is Bitcoin Halving?
Bitcoin halving is a built-in feature of the Bitcoin protocol that reduces the number of new bitcoins created and released into circulation. This event happens approximately every four years, and the next halving is scheduled to occur in May 2024.
When a block of transactions is added to the Bitcoin blockchain, the miner (or group of miners) who added the block is rewarded with a certain number of new bitcoins. This reward is called the “block reward.” In the early days of Bitcoin, the block reward was 50 bitcoins per block, but it is halved every 210,000 blocks (about every four years) to control the rate at which new bitcoins are created and to keep a lid on inflation.
The first halving occurred in November 2012, reducing the block reward from 50 to 25 bitcoins. The second halving occurred in July 2016, reducing the block reward from 25 to 12.5 bitcoins. Finally, the third halving occurred in May 2020, reducing the block reward from 12.5 to 6.25 bitcoins.
The idea behind the halving is to mimic the scarcity of a commodity like gold, with a limited supply of 21 million bitcoins. It was also implemented to control inflation and to keep the rate of new bitcoins being created in line with the rate at which they are being lost (through lost private keys, for example). As the block rewards get halved, it will become increasingly difficult and expensive to mine new bitcoins, and transaction fees will become a more important source of revenue for miners.
Does Bitcoin Halving Have an Impact on Bitcoin Price?
There are many theories on how the halving will impact the Bitcoin market and its price. Some argue that the halving will cause the price to go up as fewer new bitcoins are being released and the laws of supply and demand take over. Others argue that the halving is already priced in and that the market may react differently than expected. The only way to know for sure is to wait and see.
In the end, Bitcoin’s Halving is a pre-programmed mechanism that controls the rate at which new bitcoins are created. It’s meant to mimic the scarcity of a precious metal like gold and keep the rate of new bitcoins being created in line with the rate at which they are being lost to control the inflation rate.