Bitcoin’s Fourth Halving Marks Milestone in Blockchain History
Bitcoin completed its fourth halving in its 15-year history, a momentous event celebrated in the blockchain community akin to the World Cup and Olympics in sports. The halving, which occurs every four years and reduces the reward for miners creating new bitcoin, took place at 00:09 UTC on Saturday with the addition of the 840,000th block to the Bitcoin blockchain.
While bitcoin’s price remained stable above $63,000, transaction fees spiked as a new protocol called Runes launched, leading to a flurry of transactions as speculators rushed to mint digital tokens on the blockchain. The halving block saw a record-high fee of 37.6 BTC (worth over $2.4 million), with fees remaining elevated in the hours following the event.
The launch of the Runes protocol, developed by Casey Rodarmor, saw 853 runes etched within an hour of its launch at block 840,000. The surge in fees paid by users to include transactions in blocks reflected the intense competition to mint the new runes, with fees reaching millions of dollars for some blocks.
Bitcoin developer Jimmy Song noted that the network had never experienced anything like this before, stressing the network in new ways. Post-halving, transaction fees surged, with medium-priority transactions costing $146 and high-priority transactions around $170.
Miners are expected to rely on higher transaction fees and a potential increase in bitcoin’s price to offset the reduced mining subsidy. The halving, which reduced the mining reward to 3.125 BTC from 6.25 BTC, is a significant event in the crypto community, symbolizing Bitcoin’s decentralized nature and fixed monetary policy.
Historically, halvings have been followed by surges in bitcoin’s price, but the outlook this time is uncertain due to changes in the Bitcoin landscape, including the approval of spot bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. and advancements in network upgrades. The effects of this halving may be unpredictable, but the community remains optimistic about the future of Bitcoin.
