The Bitcoin network has confirmed its fourth-ever halving block, mined by the cryptocurrency pool ViaBTC, according to data from Blockchain.com. This significant event in the Bitcoin ecosystem reduced the mining reward by half, a deflationary measure occurring approximately every four years to control the issuance of new bitcoins and curb inflation.
The halving block included 3,050 transactions with an exceptional total of 37.6256 BTC ($2,401,399) paid as transaction fees. Such high transaction fees underscore the economic activity and miner compensation during periods of reduced block rewards.
The bitcoin (BTC) reward halving, an event that occurs every four years, took place at 00:09 UTC on Saturday when the 840,000th block was added to the Bitcoin blockchain. This halving reduces the reward that bitcoin miners receive for adding new blocks by 50%. Scheduled to happen every 210,000 blocks, this event follows the original programming set by Bitcoin’s mysterious creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, when the blockchain was launched in 2009.
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While the block has been confirmed, there remains a slight possibility of a chain reorganization—a rare event where two miners find a block simultaneously, leading to potential blockchain forks. This scenario is particularly plausible now, given the heightened competition among miners to secure the first block after a halving.
The excitement around the halving has been amplified by new technological advancements such as “Ordinals” and “Runes.” These tools allow the embedding of small units of bitcoin with metadata, or more efficient token generation techniques on the Bitcoin blockchain, respectively. Miners can now include images or other types of data directly within a Bitcoin block, adding a layer of uniqueness and value to the mined blocks.
The mining reward serves as an incentive for entities contributing computing power to secure the Bitcoin network. The miner who successfully adds a new block to the blockchain receives this reward, which remains fixed until the next halving event cuts it by half, a system designed by the cryptocurrency’s mysterious creator, Satoshi Nakamoto.
