Halving
The moment, roughly every four years, when the number of new bitcoins created is cut in half.
New bitcoins are created little by little, as a reward for those who process transactions, the miners. Every 210,000 blocks, roughly every four years, that reward is cut in half: that's the halving.
There have been four: November 28, 2012 ($12), July 9, 2016 ($652), May 11, 2020 ($8,592) and April 20, 2024 ($64,908), with bitcoin's price that day. That's why there will never be more than 21 million bitcoins.
In the chart, the vertical lines mark each halving. That the price rose after the earlier ones doesn't guarantee it will again: there are only four cases, and each time the change matters less to the total.
The block reward started at 50 BTC in 2009 and dropped to 25, 12.5, 6.25 and 3.125 BTC. Total issuance approaches 21 million, which would be reached around the year 2140.
With each halving, new issuance is a smaller share of what already exists: after 2024, less than 1% a year. That's why its effect on the price is expected to keep shrinking.
Bitcoin's price on a logarithmic scale. Each line is a halving.
Try it yourself
If you'd put $100 into bitcoin at the lowest point of each cycle, this is what you would have had at its highest point:
-
Cycle 1 · Nov 2011 → Dec 2013
$53,914
It multiplied by 539
Then it fell 85%
-
Cycle 2 · Jan 2015 → Dec 2017
$11,182
It multiplied by 112
Then it fell 84%
-
Cycle 3 · Dec 2018 → Nov 2021
$2,121
It multiplied by 21
Then it fell 77%
-
Cycle 4 · Nov 2022 → Oct 2025
$792
It multiplied by 7.9
Since that point, until today: −36%
Each cycle multiplied much less than the one before: by 539, 112, 21 and 7.9. And every high point except the last one was followed by a drop of more than 75%. What will the next one look like? Nobody knows.
This is the best possible case: nobody buys exactly at the lowest point or sells exactly at the highest. Each cycle runs from the bottom of a drop of 75% or more to the highest price that came after, with daily prices since 2010. For the last cycle, we don't know yet whether that was its highest point.
Where you see it in Compass
- Chart of the dayIn “Chart of the day”, some months fall near a halving.
- Simulator · ExploreIn Explore, bitcoin's history told step by step.
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
When were the bitcoin halvings?
November 28, 2012 ($12), July 9, 2016 ($652), May 11, 2020 ($8,592) and April 20, 2024 ($64,908). They happen every 210,000 blocks, roughly every four years.
Does the price always rise after a halving?
In the four earlier cases it rose in the following months, but that's too few cases to make a rule, and each halving affects a smaller share of the supply.
Calculated and reviewed by Compass. Sources, checks and method
Figures with data as of October 26, 2026. Educational content. Not financial advice. Past results don't guarantee future results.