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By The Numbers: Bitcoin Hashrate Poised To Complete 100% Growth In 2023

As analysts continue to debate the future of the flagship cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, the network’s hashrate has seen exponential growth, with this key indicator poised to experience an 100% increase (from the beginning of the year) before the year runs out. 

How Bitcoin’s Hashrate Has Grown

The hashrate, which is used to measure the computational power used to mine and process transactions on the network, currently (at the time of writing) stands at 445 exahashes per second (EH/s). This figure represents a significant increase, considering that the network hashrate stood at 255 EH/s on January 1, 2023. 

Bitcoin hashrate

These figures mean that the network hashrate has grown by 190 EH/s since the year began, and at this rate, it could well hit 510 EH/s by the end of the year, signaling a 100% increase from when the year began. These figures also suggest that more miners have jumped on the Bitcoin blockchain, with it being faster and more secure as a result of this. 

At this rate, the hashrate could also well be on the way to fulfilling some of the predictions made by analysts. In March, A research analyst at River Financial, Sam Wouters, noted the impressive growth rate and predicted that Bitcoin’s hashrate could reach a “Zettahash by the end of 2025.” A Zettahash is equivalent to 1,000 EH/s.

Going by this current rate, some have noted that Wouters’ prediction could become a reality by December 23, 2025, or the beginning of 2026.

Despite this significant growth rate, it is worth mentioning that Bitcoin’s hash price has remained rather tepid during this same period. Hash Price refers to the revenue generated by miners on a per tera-hash basis. 

The hash price currently stands at close to $60, almost the same figure as at the beginning of the beginning of the year. Notably, Miners’ biggest payday came on May 8, 2023, when the hash price was $125. 

Where The Bitcoin Hashrate Is Coming From

In his tweet back in March, Wouters also tried to analyze where the growth in Bitcoin’s hashrate could be coming from. He shared his belief that it was unlikely that the added hashrate was coming from nation-states, as some people may suggest. According to him, the odds of nation-states providing computing power to the network and remaining a secret is low as “there are far too many people involved in running massive operations.”

He concluded by stating that the source of the added hashrate was “nuanced” as it could simply be a result of factors like new models being put on the market, unused inventory going online, more facilities going live, and also entrepreneurs who are finding cheap sources before regulators step in. 

Bitcoin price chart from Tradingview.com (Hashrate mining)

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US Mega Bank JPMorgan Predicts Harsh Drop In This Bitcoin Metric

In a recent research report from JPMorgan, the financial firm has predicted a harsh drop for one Bitcoin metric, forecasting a potential decline of the Bitcoin Network Hash Rate by 20% leading up to the Bitcoin halving in April 2024.

JPMorgan Expects Bitcoin Hash Rate To Drop

In the report, JPMorgan stated that the Bitcoin mining industry is at a crucible stage leading all the way to the Bitcoin halving in April 2024 and beyond. This is because the approval of a Spot BTC exchange-traded fund (ETF) could spark a rally against the backdrop of record hash rates and the impending block reward halving that threatens the industry’s revenues and profitability.

The report highlighted that the total four-year block reward opportunity is estimated at $20 billion, due to the current price of Bitcoin (BTC), which is 72% lower than its all-time high in 2021. This figure represents a significant drop from its peak of $73 billion in April 2021 and has fluctuated around $14 billion and $25 billion since the past year.

As such, the financial firm expects the Bitcoin mining sector to see the predicted 20% hash rate drop at the next Bitcoin halving in April 2024.

“We estimate as much as 80 EH/s (or 20% of the network hash rate) could be removed at the next halving (April ‘24) as less-efficient hardware is decommissioned,” the report reads.

Bitcoin halving is an event that aims to control inflation and it involves the reduction of Bitcoin miners’ rewards by half, and it takes place roughly every four years after miners solve 210,000 blocks. 

Bitcoin price chart from Tradingview.com (JP Morgan BTC hash rate)

Analysts Reginald Smith and Charles Pearce noted in the report that the bank favors mining operators that can offer the best relative value in light of the existing hash rate, operational efficiency, power contracts, and more.

JPMorgan chose Bitcoin mining company CleanSpark (CLSK) as its top pick among several companies listed by the firm, highlighting that the mining company offers the best balance of scale, growth potential, power costs, and relative value.

In addition, the firm highlighted the significance of other mining firms it listed. These include Marathon Digital (MARA), Riot platforms (RIOT), and Cipher mining (CIFR).

According to the firm, Marathon Digital is the largest mining operator, with the highest energy costs and lowest margins. Meanwhile, Riot has lower energy costs and liquidity, but Cipher has the lowest power costs with limited growth.

The firm also included an outweight rating table and price targets of the mining operators in the report.

The high cost of mining and the removal of inefficient hardware have been seen as some of the factors that tend to affect the Bitcoin mining industry.

Large amounts of electricity are needed for mining, and at first, this makes it too expensive for miners to continue their operation. Nevertheless, many also tend to come back whenever the next bullish cycle drives Bitcoin’s price to unprecedented levels.

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Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Hits New All-Time High As BTC Price Moves Sideways

Bitcoin price has been trading sideways in the past weeks, significantly declining from the $29,000 support. This bearish pattern spread panic among traders but has not deterred miners. Instead, Bitcoin mining participants appear to have increased.

This is evident in the increased mining difficulty, which soared to a new record high. According to available data, Bitcoin mining difficulty surged 6.17% in the last week, alongside a spike in network activity on August 22.

Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Spikes Up Amid Nosediving Prices

While BTC price tanked by over 10% in a 7-day period, miners’ confidence remains at its peak. According to data from btc.com, this uptick marks the sixth-largest increase in Bitcoin mining difficulty in 2023. For context, Bitcoin mining difficulty measures the difficulty and time it takes to solve a complex cryptographic puzzle. 

Related Reading: AVAX Network Activity Down – Will The Planned Token Unlock Bring Back The Energy?

The Bitcoin network adjusts mining difficulty periodically depending on the number of miners onboard. The next difficulty adjustment date is about two weeks aways, with the estimated rate at 16.05%. Furthermore, the hash rate increases as more miners compete for limited Bitcoin block rewards, increasing mining difficulty. 

Therefore, the uptick in mining difficulty suggests Bitcoin’s bearish price trajectory has not affected miners’ profitability. 

BTCUSD price chart

Increase In Hash Rates Reflects High Investor Confidence In Bitcoin 

Hash rate and mining difficulty correlate; therefore, as the Bitcoin mining difficulty increases, the hash rate follows a similar trend. Although calculating the hash rate is tricky and challenging, the ongoing figure is about to break the existing record high of 538.05 EH/s. 

In an August 22 report: CryptoQuant analyst MAC_D attributed the increased hash rate to high confidence in BTC and ETH network reliability and security among investors.

MAC-D wrote:

Recently the prices of BTC and ETH have fallen by 10%. However, the network security and reliability have increased.

He also identified two plausible reasons behind the uptick in the hash rate. Firstly, the analyst explained that Bitcoin’s hash rate increased during the recent price decline. He said the observation depicts that miners became more active amid the downtrend. Secondly, MAC_D mentioned that staked ETH has increased despite the decline in Ether price.

Nonetheless, the analyst believes the fall in price suggests BTC and ETH have become undervalued. And according to him, this presents an opportunity for bullish investors to accumulate more assets in anticipation of the next bull run.

This assumption must have prompted miners to increase their mining capacity, increasing the hash rate and difficulty. And data from the on-chain analytics platform Glassnode supports these claims. 

According to Glassnode data, there has been a slight increase in the number of BTC in the portfolios of mining firms. As of August 22, miners’ BTC holdings hovered over 1.83 million Bitcoin. This figure represents a 0.08% increase from the value at the beginning of August.

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Diamond In The Rough: Solo Bitcoin Miner Secures $160,000 Block Reward

On August 18, a solo miner managed to solve block 803,821, securing a remarkable 6.25 Bitcoin block reward valued at $160,000. This is a very rare event as lone miners have a lower chance of mining a block due to the increase in mining difficulty and this solo miner became the 277th solo miner in bitcoin’s history to achieve this. 

Solo Bitcoin Miner Makes History

The solo miner was able to pull off this remarkable achievement using the Solo CKpool mining service. The miner identified with the tag bc1q2za4ejga366sn288273pty8trasn5zs4y9hqg6 used an S17 Bitcoin Miner with a hash power of roughly 1 PetaHash which is way lesser than most BTC mining entities, as was speculated by Con Kolivas, the administrator of Solo CKpool.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about this development is that the miner achieved this remarkable reward when mining difficulty was almost at an all-time high of 52.39.

Normally, mining Bitcoin with just 1 PetaHash seems impossible compared to other BTC solo miners that were able to pull this off in the past who had hash rate capacity in exa-hashes.

It is almost impossible for a solo miner to solve an entire block on their own, due to the increased popularity of BTC mining and the persistent rise in the network hash rate and powerful mining equipment. 

BTC miners are required to input computational power to solve and add the next Bitcoin block to the network, which creates a valid block hash while using the computational power of multiple mining rigs.

However, since the miner was using the Solo CKpool, it allows miners with outdated or inefficient equipment to pool their mining power together, increasing their chances of solving a block, which is what happened here. In their case, this miner was able to retain 98% of the reward. 

Bitcoin price chart from Tradingiew.com

The miner now joins two other solo miners who have been able to achieve this impressive feat in March and June this year using a Solo CKpool and is the third time this is happening so far in 2023.

Rise In Hashrate Triggers Surge In Mining Difficulty

Over the last few months, the Bitcoin hashrate has been rising rapidly, eventually hitting an all-time high in July. In response to this, the mining difficulty surged quickly and touched its own ATH in the same month.

By July 8, the Bitcoin mining hashrate was at 538.05 EH/s and difficulty surged to 53.9112T a few days later on July 12. However, since then, it has tapered off with hashrate dropping 26% to 424.76 EH/s and difficulty dropping around 3% to 52.39T.

Bitcoin mining difficulty

Nevertheless, both the Bitcoin hashrate and difficulty are significantly higher compared to the start of 2023, which makes the solo miner’s achievement even more impressive. However, as hashrate and difficulty continue to rise, such occurrences are expected to be fewer as miners with large hashrates dominate the market.

In the end, the winner is the Bitcoin network which becomes stronger for it with the increased hashrate. It is also beneficial to BTC investors as a rise in hashrate suggests there is more interest in the digital asset and this can convert to higher prices for the cryptocurrency.

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Winds Of Change: Bitcoin Miner Riot Sees Substantial Increase In BTC Holdings

Bitcoin mining has been up by a considerable fraction this year, as the blockchain network recorded a new all-time high in hash rate in the second quarter of the year. Mining revenue is also up, as the bitcoin Bitcoin recorded a spike in transaction volume. 

As a result, Riot Blockchain, one of the largest publicly traded Bitcoin mining companies in the US, has recorded an increase in operations in the second quarter. According to its 2023 second-quarter financial results, the mining company recorded a new all-time record hash while ramping up its Bitcoin mining operations.

Solid Second Quarter 2023

According to its financial report, Riot has seriously ramped up its Bitcoin mining operations. As a result, the mining company produced 1,775 BTC during the second quarter of 2023, a 27% increase compared to the 1,395 BTC it produced during that same period in 2022. 

In May 2023 alone, the company produced 676 BTC at an average of 21.8 BTC per day. The average cost to mine each bitcoin was $8,389, beating Q2 2022’s average of $11,316.

Riot also witnessed an increase in mining revenue, as Bitcoin miners generated a remarkable total revenue of $2.4 billion. Although the price of Bitcoin during the quarter was 15% less than what it was in Q2 2022, Riot saw a total revenue of $76.7 million, as compared to $72.9 million in Q2 2022. Mining revenue ($49.7 million), engineering revenue ($19.3 million), data hosting revenue ($7.7 million), and power curtailment credits ($13.5 million) were also higher than in Q2 2022. 

Not only has RIOT’s revenue from bitcoin mining increased, but their actual bitcoin holdings have also grown substantially. As of June 30, Riot held 7,264 BTC with the price of each BTC at $30,477.

In total, Riot finished the quarter with $408.4 million in working capital, including $289.2 million in cash on hand and $221.4 million in Bitcoin, while also reducing its net loss to $27.7 million compared to $353.6 million in Q2 2022.

Bitcoin (BTC) price chart from Tradingview.com (Riot Blockchain)

Increase In Bitcoin Mining Power

Riot Blockchain also drastically increased its hash rate throughout the quarter, reaching an all-time record hash rate capacity of 10.7 EH/s. However, the company is also looking to enhance its computational power. 

During the quarter, the company signed a long-term purchase agreement with MicroBT to acquire 33,280 next-generation miners. With an expanded mining fleet and facility, Riot believes it can see its hash rate grow to 20.1 EH/s by the second quarter of 2024. 

Bitcoin mining is an energy-intensive process. However, Riot’s power strategy contributes to the stability of the energy grid in Texas at times of high demand by selling extra power back to the grid. At the time of writing Riot’s stock is up by 1.53% in a daily timeframe and 158.14% in the past six months.

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Why Most Public Bitcoin Miners Have Performed Terribly In Their Lifetimes

Bitcoin public mining companies have been struggling along with the rest of the crypto market. With the decline in the price of bitcoin, these companies had seen their cash flow decline, driving come to the brink of bankruptcy. However, while it seemed like the losses that public BTC miners have incurred have happened in the bear market run, it goes back even father back.

Bitcoin Miners Are Barely Profitable

Public bitcoin miners, both large and small, had grown in popularity over the last year. Their stocks allowed investors to bet on the crypto market without having to buy any of the digital assets themselves. Thus, these public miners had seen millions of dollars in revenue. The problem comes from the ability of these companies to actually retain their earnings over their lifetime.

The retained earnings are how a company shows its total accumulated net income over its lifetime and looking at the financial statements of these public miners, they are less than encouraging. They shows that most public bitcoin miners have been unable to retain any of their net earnings since they were founded.

An obvious problem with these miners have been how much of their earnings is being put towards administrative expenses. This report shows that compared to their counterparts in gold and oil & gas, bitcoin mines used an average of 50% of their earnings for administrative costs. 

Public miners see in deficit | Source: Arcane Research

Additionally, these companies had committed to extensive expansion plans during the bull market that has become harder to pull off in the bear market. This has translated to a steep decline in the retained earnings of most public miners.

Are Any Mining Companies Profitable?

Over time, there are some public bitcoin miners that have been able to go against the grain and have their retained earnings in the green even during these troubled times. One of those is the Argo Blockchain mining company. In a report by Arcane Research, Argo Blockchain is listed as the only public BTC miner with positive retained earnings of $26 million. The rest of the report paints a grim picture of the bitcoin mining industry.

Most of the companies had significant deficits of varying degrees throughout their lifetimes. The largest deficit was recorded by Core Scientific at $1.304 billion. The next in line is Riot Blockchain which had seen a significant deficit of $569 million over its lifetime.

BTC holds above $19,000 | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com

Others on the list included Marathon Digital, Hut 8, and Stronghold, with deficits of $357 million, $221 million, and $156 million, respectively. Two others, CleanSpark and Bitframs, came out with deficits of $154 million and $137 million.

What this shows is that these companies are spending more money than they are making during this time. The numbers show that even during the bull market, when the cash flow for BTC mining machines was high, most of these companies continued to lose money. So investing in the stocks of these companies should be approached with caution and proper risk management. 

Featured image from Blockchain News, charts from Arcane Research and TradingView.com

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Brace For Impact: Bitcoin Miners Have Begun Dumping Their Holdings

For the longest time, bitcoin miners have held on to the spoils of their activities. That is when the profitability of mining the cryptocurrency was still high. Due to a high cash flow, these miners could afford to hold on to a good portion of their rewards while being able to still carry out their operations. However, recent market trends have tanked the profitability of bitcoin mining, leading miners to start dipping into their BTC stash and selling to keep operations alive.

Bitcoin Miners Are Selling

A good number of bitcoin miners had held on to the considerable bags mostly through the bear market. With the turn of the market and bitcoin now trading below $29,000, it has become harder for miners to hold on to these coins without compromising their ability to fund their operations. The result of this has been a number of prominent bitcoin mining companies coming out to say that they have sold or will be selling some of the BTC they hold.

Related Reading | Bitcoin Exchange Outflows Suggest That Investors Are Starting To Accumulate

Marathon Digital is no doubt one of the first names that pop up when the topic of bitcoin mining comes up. The company has been able to cement its position as a top contender in the mining world and has attracted a large number of investors but even big companies have not been able to escape the market onslaught.

Last month, the firm had announced during an earnings call that it may have to sell some of its bitcoin holdings. Marathon Digital holds more than 9,600 BTC, most of which it has held for almost two years. However, it seems the day of reckoning is fast approaching and even large companies will have to get rid of some of their BTC.

BTC continues to struggle as sell-offs intensify | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com

Companies that have already sold some of their BTC include Riot and Cathedra Bitcoin. Riot had reportedly sold about $10 million worth of Bitcoin back in April which came out to a total of 250 BTC. Most recently, Cathedra Bitcoin had announced that it sold 235 BTC at an average price of $29,152. It came out to a little over $8.7 million. The company explained in its report that this was to help it insulate “itself from additional declines in the price of bitcoin and maintains its liquidity position.”

Mining No Longer Profitable?

Bitcoin mining remains profitable but with the price more than 50% down from its all-time high, the profitability has declined by a significant margin. A report from Bitcoinist highlighted the profitability of BTC mining machines. The miners are now returning 50% less cash flow than they did when BTC was trading at $69,000.

Related Reading | Bitcoin Rests Tentatively Above $31,000, Bull Rally Or Trap?

Additionally, daily miner revenues are still on the low side. It had grown by 4.50% last week to land at its $26,706,581 value but these remain low. It is a result of the average transaction value and daily transactions being down over the past week. 

Faith in bitcoin mining stocks is also on the decline. So now, miners are forced to sell some of their BTC holdings to be able to keep their operations going.

Featured image from Outlook India, chart from TradingView.com

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Bitcoin Hashrate Climbs To New High As Price Recovers Above $42,000

Bitcoin’s hash rate has continued its recent climb, riding the waves to new highs. The digital asset that has been suffering following the market crash seems to only be suffering in price as it has kept up the pace in other avenues. Coming out of the weekend, bitcoin has recorded a significant spike in its hash rate, leading to a new high of 248.11TH/s in a period of 24 hours.

Bitcoin Hash Rate Touches New High

Between February 11th and February 12th, the bitcoin hashrate recorded a new high. Miners who have been an integral part of the network since inception have continued to increase their support for it. Not only does mining profit the miners through block rewards and transaction fees, but they also help to secure the network with their activities which is why the recent surge is important.

Relaed Reading | Argentinian Tax Authority to Seize Digital Wallets to Collect Tax Debts

The hash rate has continued to trend around the same level for the better part of the month, fluctuating above and below 200 TH/s. On Saturday however, Blockchain.com reported that the hash rate had jumped 31% in the space of a day. It is one of the most significant growth recorded on the blockchain in recent times.

In a matter of one year alone, the hashrate has grown 54%. This is coming up from the China crackdown on mining that saw the hash rate from the region crash to near zero. The digital asset has since recovered from this and surged towards new highs.

With more power coming from the computing machines of miners, the hash rate has continued to climb. It is, in turn, helping to straighten the bitcoin network, an all-around win for the asset.

Why Is Hash Rate Rising?

The rise in the hash rate can be attributed to the number of miners that are coming into the space. Gone are the days when bitcoin mining was carried out on computers with graphics cards. Nowadays, there are entire farms dedicated to the activity of thousands of mining machines all connected to give the miners a better shot at mining a block. It has grown into a robust, billion-dollar industry.

BTC settles above $42K | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com

On the flip side of this, small-time miners are also ramping up their activities. Although their small hash rate makes it harder to make a profit, these small miners are finding refuge in mining pools where they pool their hash rate together, thereby increasing their chances of finding a block.

Relaed Reading | Bitcoin Price Quick Look: Profit Taking Affects Current Market Movements

This has worked out for a couple of miners who have been able to mine full blocks, receiving the full reward, despite their small hash rate. With this, more small miners are coming online but the real values are coming from the big players.

It is expected that bitcoin’s hash rate will continue to rise as more players move into the mining industry. It has become a refuge for investors who want to invest in bitcoin-adjacent products. Currently, Russia has overtaken China and the United States to become the country with the highest hash rate.

Featured image from CoinDesk, chart from TradingView.com

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Bitcoin Mining In The U.S.: 4 States Attract The Most Miners

Dataset from Foundry shows that four states in the U.S. have the highest Bitcoin hash rate distribution. The dataset shows that many Bitcoin miners are headed to New York, Kentucky, Georgia, and Texas.

Foundry U.S. is the largest mining pool in North America and the fifth-largest globally. The hash rate is a measure of collective mining power. A mining pool enables miners to combine their hashing power with other miners all over the world.

Bitcoin Mining In The U.S.

According to the data, within the U.S., New York accounts for 19.9% of bitcoin’s hash rate, 18.7% in Kentucky, 17.3% is in Georgia, and 14% in Texas.

Source: Foundry U.S.

At the Texas Blockchain Summit in Austin on October 8, 2021, Nic Carter, co-founder of Castle Island Ventures, presented Foundry’s data. “This is the first time we’ve actually had state-level insight on where miners are unless you wanted to go cobble through all the public filings and try to figure it out that way,”

He added that “This is a much more efficient way of figuring out where mining occurs in America.”

However, Carter pointed out that the Foundry dataset does not consider all the U.S. mining hash rates as not all U.S.-based mining farms use its services. One of the largest publicly traded mining companies in America,
Riot Blockchain, with a huge presence in Texas, does not use Foundry. Therefore, the dataset does not account for its hash rate. Texas’ mining presence is understated and could possibly be higher than the 14% quoted.

BTC trading at over $55K | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com

Many of the states with the highest Bitcoin hash rates also have high proportions of renewable energy. This fact may have started changing the narrative that bitcoin is bad for the environment.

Related Reading | $425bn Wiped Off Crypto Market As Musk Says Bitcoin Is Bad For The Environment

According to CNBC, a lot of the miners are moving to these states because they have cheap and renewable sources of power. Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows that a third of New York’s in-state generation comes from renewables sources. Kentucky, which has the second-highest hash rate, is also known for its hydroelectric and wind power. The state’s government recently passed a law that grants certain tax exemptions to crypto mining operations.

Carter also said that the migration of miners to the U.S. is positive because it means much lower carbon intensity.

Texas Leads Bitcoin Mining

Although Texas ranks fourth according to the data, experts believe it is the top mining destination in the U.S. The state houses mining giants like Riot Blockchain, and the Chinese mining service platform Bitdeer.

A report from earlier this year shows that large orders for mining ASICs are also being delivered to Texas.

Related Reading | Bitcoin Mining Moves to Texas, Bitmain Announces Partner for Massive New Facility

Crypto-friendly lawmakers, a deregulated power grid with real-time spot pricing, and access to significant renewable energy, as well as stranded or flared natural gas, are what make Texas attractive to miners, according to CNBC.

Featured image by Finance Magnates, Chart from TradingView.com

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Data Shows Nearly 90% of Bitcoin Has Been Mined, Here’s How Long It Will Take To Mine The Rest

Bitcoin mining is still one of the hotly debated parts of the blockchain. Miners, no doubt make a good amount for blocks mined given the current price of BTC. But mining difficulty has also gone up as more BTC are mined.

In its decade-long history, over 18.6 million of Bitcoin’s 21 million total supply has been mined. This constitutes almost 90% of all BTC’s supply. This leaves a little over 10% of BTC left to be mined. Currently, there are about 2.250 million coins left to be mined.

Related Reading | Market Analyst Sees Bitcoin Peaking At $100,000 By Year-End

At the current rate, it is estimated that the last bitcoin will be mined about 120 years from now. This is due to halving events that will occur every four years, reducing the supply of BTC going into circulation every four years.

Mining Bitcoin In 2009 Versus Mining In 2021

The cryptocurrency which first came out in 2009 had rewarded miners 50 bitcoins for each block that they mined. This was back when a user could mine bitcoin using an old laptop with a crappy graphics card. At this point, bitcoin was worth next to nothing. So a lot of miners either forgot their coins or sold them for very cheap. Bitcoin’s price evolution through this point is an interesting time.

Related Reading | Crypto Has Arrived In Hollywood And The Stars Are Loving It!

In 2021, three halving events since the launch of the digital currency has seen reward for block mined reduce drastically. The first halving occurred in 2012. At this point, the reward for a block was 25, reducing it by half. The next halving occurred in 2016, which reduced the reward to 12.5. The most recent halving happened in 2020, which reduced the number of bitcoins received per mined block to 6.25.

The reward will continue to halve every four years until all 21 million BTC are mined. Every halving will reduce the rewards for mined blocks by half every time. Making the rewards for mining blocks smaller, while simultaneously increasing the mining difficulty as miners clamor to get the rewards for mined blocks.

BTC Growth Over The Years

The pioneer cryptocurrency didn’t draw too much attention until the Silk Road bust happened. Before the Silk Road was launched, BTC was only used by people who were in it for the technology. The returns were not really significant at this point. These of BTC on Silk Road as a way to purchase literally anything, from drugs to weapons, is what really made law enforcement turn its focus on the coin.

BTC started to see significant growth in 2017 | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com

BTC’s price remained mostly flat around this period, despite its increased popularity, thanks to the Silk Road bust. The most notable bull run happened in 2017-2018. This was when a lot of investors had heard about bitcoin. The bull market brought BTC to the forefront as a strong asset to contend with.

Related Reading | Bitcoin At $100,000, Ethereum At $5,000 Is Path Of Least Resistance, Says Bloomberg Crypto Analyst

In 2021, it is estimated that about 10% of the current world population are invested in either BTC or altcoins. Current numbers are put between an estimated 51 and 52.4 million crypto investors in the world. Compared to an estimated 2.9 to 5.8 million in 2017, this is tremendous growth.

Featured image from OptinMonster, chart from TradingView.com