As the Bitcoin halving comes up on May 12, Fast Money, a CNBC post-market show, has explained the implications of the coin’s next block reward halving.
When the Bitcoin blockchain technology was developed, the first block reward was 50 Bitcoins. It was later cut down to 25 BTC after the first halving. Afterward, on July 16, 2016, it was further slashed to 12.5 BTC. In the upcoming having this month, the block reward will be further reduced to 6.25 BTC. Bitcoin halving takes place once every four years.
What to expect from Bitcoin halving
Brian Kelly, chief executive of hedge fund BKCM, was explaining about the upcoming halving during the Fast Money interview by host Melissa Lee. In the talk show segment on May 1, Mellissa asked Kelly how long the crypto community will need to wait before the next Bitcoin halving. Kelly replied and said halving will be coming up in 11 days. He stated that Bitcoin too will be experiencing quantitative hardening as the world is quarantining itself.
“It doesn’t mean that the price of Bitcoin is being cut in half — it just means that the daily supply is being cut in half,’ he said.
He further pointed out that there will be a reduction of supply as half of the Bitcoin mining systems will be turned off. The Bitcoin environment will contract, as lesser Bitcoin will be mined while the entire world is busy printing more money during this quarantining period. As a result, Bitcoin will be scarcer than gold according to the stock-to-flow ratio.
Bitcoin halving is not a period of massive “sell-out”
During the interview, Kelly also told investors that they don’t necessarily need to go on massive sellout during Bitcoin halving. He said for the past two Bitcoin halving, it wasn’t until several weeks for the implication to hit the market. He further said the miners make their money through this way, although the smaller miners may have to sell out. However, there could be a nice run up 30 to 60 days after the Bitcoin halving.
Before the interview with Kelly on Friday, Bitcoin’s price was around $8,740. But as at press time, Bitcoin is now valued at about $9,033.
Bitcoin stays strong despite COVID-19 pandemic
The current COVID-19 pandemic does not seem to have a grave impact on the value of Bitcoin. The only event that shook the Bitcoin market this year was the massive liquidity crises on March 12 (Black Thursday), which resulted in crashes in prices of almost all types of assets. However, Bitcoin is still strong and 25.50% up this year despite all the challenges.
