Halving literally means “Halfway”. In mining cryptocurrencies ( Bitcoin , Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, etc.), the reward per block in mining production is halved at certain intervals.
Mining is necessary for the production of cryptocurrencies as well as for confirming transfers in the blockchain system. End of mining or slowdown of transactions will affect the usability of the system.
The number of units to be produced in all cryptocurrencies produced by mining has been determined. Units cannot be produced above the specified amount. In this way, the supply-demand balance, which is the main factor in pricing the cryptocurrency, was preserved and inflation was prevented.
What is the Advantage of Halving?
Halving is the intentional lowering of the mining reward at certain intervals when mining cryptocurrencies. There are two main reasons for this process.
Rewarding users who have believed in cryptocurrencies from the beginning. Users who believe in cryptocurrencies produced by mining and have been mining in this area since their debut will not be affected by the halving transactions at first, so they will receive much more block rewards than the miners involved in this area later on.
They form the basis of the network, as the mining process is necessary for the production of cryptocurrencies, as well as confirming transfers made in the blockchain system. The fact that the number of cryptocurrencies to be produced is limited, if continued with the initial block reward numbers, would cause the entire number of cryptocurrencies to be produced. In this case, miners will start to withdraw from the blockchain network, that is, the mining network, since there is no reward, and this will cause the system to become clogged. In order to keep miners in the blockchain network for a long time and to continue the production of the cryptocurrency, it is necessary to reduce the block reward as the number of miners increases.
What is Bitcoin (BTC) Halving?
Bitcoin (BTC) is a cryptocurrency produced by mining the cryptocurrency. Miners receive a reward in Bitcoin for each block they solve. In this way, both Bitcoin production is made and transactions in the blockchain network are carried out.
With the halving made on the Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain, the reward received per block is reduced to half value.
Bitcoin (BTC) mining first started with the “Genesis Block” launched by Satoshi Nakamoto, known as its founder, on October 31, 2008. All subsequent confirmations are written on this block.
In 2008, when Bitcoin (BTC) first came out, it gave a reward of 50 BTC per block. Anticipating that the number of miners will increase and transactions will slow down, the developers have developed a system “Halving”, which will automatically reduce the reward given per block. The first halving on the Bitcoin network was made in 2012 and the reward per block was 25 BTC. Halving, which takes place approximately every 4 years, made its next halving in 2016 and the reward per block was 12.5 BTC.
A third halving will take place in 2020 and the reward per block will be 6.25 BTC.
The reflection of the halving process on the Bitcoin price has always been positive until now. The expectations for the Halving to be held in 2020 are in this direction.
What is Bitcoin Cash (BCH) Halving?
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is a cryptocurrency that emerged in 2017 by forking from the Bitcoin network to provide a faster system upon slowing down transactions on the Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain network.
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is a mining cryptocurrency like Bitcoin (BTC). On the blockchain, miners receive rewards in Bitcoin Cash (BCH) for each block they solve. This reward system both produces Bitcoin Cash and ensures the continuity and security of the blockchain system.
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) mining currently rewards 12.5 BCH per block. With the Halving to be held in 2020, the reward per block will be 6.25 BCH.
What is Litecoin (LTC) Halving?
Litecoin (LTC) is the first cryptocurrency to fork from the Bitcoin blockchain network. It was released in 2011 by Charlie Lee. It is the first altcoin.
It has emerged due to the slowdown of transactions in the Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain system and the necessity of some technical regulations. Faster block generation in the blockchain network allows transactions to occur faster from the Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain network.
Litecoin (LTC) is a cryptocurrency mined and its total supply is fixed. Litecoin (LTC) will be released in a total of 84,000,000 LTCs. Like other mining cryptocurrencies, Litecoin (LTC) includes Halving in the system.
The Litecoin (LTC) network is halving every four years and the reward per block is halved each time. Litecoin (LTC) was first introduced in 2011, and the reward per block was set to 50 LTC. With the Halving in 2015, the miner’s reward per block decreased to 25 LTC. The last halving took place on August 5, 2019, and miners will be paid 12.5 LTC per block for all four days.