Fourth Bitcoin Halving Activated: What’s Next?
The Bitcoin halving was completed on April 20, 2024 (00:09 UTC). It consisted of halving BTC mining rewards. While for some the reduction in the supply of Bitcoin could lead to an increase in its price, for others, the halving is instead perceived as an opportunity for the network to become more efficient and sustainable.
This Saturday, shortly after midnight (GMT time), block number 840,000 was processed in the blockchain of the largest cryptocurrency. With this, the historic fourth Bitcoin halving was activated automatically and a new stage begins for the crypto market.
The block was mined by the ViaBTC pool, being the first time that this company writes its name on the halving block (in 2012 it was Slush Pool; in 2016 it was F2Pool; and in 2020 it was mined by Antpool).
Consequently, ViaBTC Pool takes over the coveted epic sat, named after the Theory of Ordinals, which classifies sats according to their level of rarity. In the case of epic sats, there will only be 32, corresponding to the number of halvings in history.
Bullish Expert Positions
Various personalities and organizations have not missed the opportunity to share their predictions about the future trend of BTC. Among them, David Battaglia highlighted that “BTC does not stop gaining value and preserving wealth over time.”
On the other hand, Stockmoney Lizards does not rule out a medium-term correction to $50,000. However, he shares a bullish prediction that Bitcoin could reach six figures in the last quarter of the year.
The renowned trader SantinoCripto also echoed the bullish position and points out that, if no “black swan” emerges, Bitcoin could reach $70,000 in the coming days. He even predicts that BTC could touch $80,000 before May.
Finally, BeInCrypto analyst and trader, Benjamín Isaza, highlighted that Bitcoin’s bullish momentum has been formed since September 2023 with an angle greater than 60°.
Isaza pointed out that “if there is a macro decline like the one experienced in 2020, it could return to $37,000 and $27,000.”
Fourth Bitcoin Halving a Reality: What Will Happen Next?
With this fourth halving, a new era of digital scarcity begins for Bitcoin. It will be the first time that, during the cycle of 210,000 blocks between one halving and another, less than 1 million BTC will be issued as a subsidy to miners, adding only 656,250 BTC to the supply in the next 4 years.
Analysts and investors are waiting for what may happen. Some probable scenarios are foreseen, such as the one related to Bitcoin mining. Since large mining companies suffer a strong impact on their income, they would have to liquidate part of their funds to cover operating expenses.
Such liquidation implies that liquidity in the market would experience a palpable increase and with it strong selling pressure. The result is an expected downward trend in the price of BTC, which would continue for several months while the mining industry is reorganized and companies adapt to the new stage.
If the cycle theory is fulfilled in this fourth Bitcoin halving, the price improvement would take several months and the peak would be in 2025. Some warnings must be taken into account that rule out any other improvement in the price of the currency, such as the premature death of the BTC rally with the recent declines, as expressed by Santiment.
By Audy Castaneda