On May 11, 2020, Bitcoin successfully executed its third block reward halving. Bitcoin halving events usually occur every four years, and the first and the second events took place in 2012 and 2016, respectively. Since miners’ rewards for verifying blockchain transactions are usually trimmed by 50% following a halving event, past events have forced miners to adopt numerous changes to cater for the drops in profitability. What about the recent halving event? How have things unfolded for miners this time around?
Mining Inefficiencies
One obvious impact of a halving event is the reduced revenues miners receive. To remain profitable, miners are expected to increase their operational efficiencies, and one probable way of doing so is shifting to new mining equipment with more hashes per second and reduced power consumption. According to Ramak J Sedigh, Pouton Mining’s CEO, miners who are still using old generation equipment may be forced out of business unless the price of Bitcoin reaches an all-time high after the May 11 halving.
Price Didn’t Move As Expected
While it was expected that the third halving would have a significant negative impact on Bitcoin prices given that it occurred during the COVID-19 chaos, it was actually eventless. On the contrary, the prices have continued to climb. And because of the BTC price stability, more investors may even be lured to mount for bullish positions in the coming months.
Mining Difficulty Adjustment
BTC blockchain usually adjusts mining difficulty after every 2016 blocks following a drop or rise of the hash rate. So, when some miners close shop due to reduced block rewards, the BTC mining difficulty is also expected to automatically adjust to cater to block interval movements. Over the years, this mining difficulty adjustment has prevented a
