A built-in event roughly every four years that cuts the reward for mining new bitcoin in half.
Bitcoin's code includes a built-in rule that cuts the reward miners earn for processing transactions in half approximately every four years, a mechanism designed to slow the creation of new bitcoin over time and cap the total supply that will ever exist at 21 million coins. Because it directly reduces how much new bitcoin enters circulation, halvings are closely watched by crypto investors as a potential catalyst for price moves, though past halvings' effects on price have been debated rather than a guaranteed pattern.
Part of the Open Bell Glossary — plain-English explanations of the terms that come up on the show. Browse every term.