Halving
Halving is a reduction of the block reward by half, scheduled by the network itself. Bitcoin has one every 210 thousand blocks, roughly once in four years.
What halving is
The rule is written into the network code: emission is finite, and its release slows down on a schedule. Every 210 thousand blocks the block reward is divided by two, and since a block comes out roughly every ten minutes, the interval works out to about four years.
Bitcoin's last halving was in April 2024, and the reward became 3.125 BTC. The next one is expected in 2028, and it will take the reward down to 1.5625 BTC. For a miner this is the most predictable event in the industry: the date is known in advance to within weeks, and the consequence is known exactly.
Other networks have their own rules. Litecoin had its halving in August 2023, with a reward of 6.25 LTC. Dogecoin has a fixed emission of 10000 DOGE per block, and there will be no more halvings at all. Ethereum Classic uses a gradual decline instead of a halving: on 22 July 2026 the reward fell from 2.048 to 1.6384 ETC, a fifth less.
What happens to the money. On halving day your revenue in coins drops by half, while the power bill does not move by a cent. From there two outcomes are possible: either the coin price makes up for the drop, or a share of the miners with poor J/TH goes unprofitable and leaves the network, after which difficulty falls and the survivors' share grows. Historically both mechanisms have worked, though nobody promised the same will happen next time.
Quick reference table
| Bitcoin schedule | every 210000 blocks, about four years |
| Last one | April 2024, reward 3.125 BTC |
| Next one | expected in 2028, down to 1.5625 BTC |
| Litecoin | August 2023, reward 6.25 LTC |
| Dogecoin | no halvings, 10000 DOGE per block |
How to price a purchase with the halving in mind
Look at how many months are left until the date. If the calculator says an asic pays back in 20 months and the halving is 8 months away, the second 12 months will be counted on half the emission, and the real payback slides far to the right.
Test your model for resilience: work out profitability at half the revenue and your current tariff. An asic that stays in the black in that math will ride through the halving calmly. One that goes negative will be waiting for the price to rise, and that is already a bet.
And do not count on a quick drop in difficulty. It is recalculated every 2016 blocks, so the decline arrives late and comes with no guarantee: if the coin price holds, nobody powers a site down.
Example in numbers
Before April 2024 a block paid 6.25 BTC, and after that it paid 3.125 BTC. The network issues about 144 blocks a day, so daily emission fell from about 900 to about 450 BTC. Your share of that emission stayed the same, but the coins inside it are half as many.
Related terms
Where to go next on the site
Coins
- Bitcoin coins
- Litecoin coins
- Dogecoin coins
- Ethereum Classic coins
Numbers
Questions and answers
When is the next bitcoin halving
It is expected in 2028, and the exact date is set by how fast blocks come out, so it drifts by weeks. The reward will become 1.5625 BTC.
Does a miner's income halve right away
Revenue in coins does, on the very first block after the halving. In money the result depends on the exchange rate, while the electricity expense does not change at all.
Does every coin have a halving
No. Litecoin does, Dogecoin has none at all, and Ethereum Classic uses a gradual reward decline instead, the last one on 22 July 2026.
Is it worth buying an asic before a halving
Run the payback on half the revenue. If it works out that way too, the date holds no fear for you. If it only works out up to the halving, you are buying a few months of work and a bet on the price.
How the terms connect
Every link in the chain is clickable. Orange marks where you are now.
Looking for an ASIC miner
The catalog holds 212 models. You can compare them by hashrate and by joules per terahash, then plug your own rate into the calculator and see what stays in your pocket.
Page written and checked by Denys Klimchuk. Updated .