Due to its decentralized nature, no one person or entity controls Bitcoin. So unlike fiat currency, there is no central control of money supply.
But deep inside, Bitcoin does have regulatory measures embedded into its algorithm. We know there’s a limit of how many Bitcoins will be produced, but what is the rate of speed? How is that controlled?
It’s controlled by having.
In order for Bitcoin to have a long lifespan — 21 million by 2140 — the amount of Bitcoin “miners” can get is halved about every four years, or after every 210,000 blocks are mined on the network.
The first halving occurred in 2012 when the block reward was reduced from 50 BTC to 25 BTC. The second halving occurred in 2016 when the block reward was reduced from 25 BTC to 12.5 BTC. The most recent halving occurred on May 11, 2020, when the block reward was reduced from 12.5 BTC to 6.25 BTC.
It is worth noting that the exact date and time of the halving event are not predetermined, as it depends on the speed at which miners are able to mine new blocks on the Bitcoin network. However, based on the current block generation time of approximately 10 minutes, it is estimated that the next halving will occur in 2024.