Firsthand Bitcoin · Data · Bitcoin miners

Bitcoin halving countdown

The fifth halving lands at block 1,050,000, when the reward for each block drops from 3.125 to 1.5625 bitcoin.

81,830 blocks to go from block 968,170 (read September 22, 2026): about 556 days at 147.2 blocks a day, so around March 31, 2028. Blocks come at random, so the date moves by a day or two either way.

The subsidy schedule

HalvingBlockDateSubsidyPrice that dayA year later
Genesis0January 3, 200950 ₿
1st halving210,000November 28, 201250 → 25 ₿
2nd halving420,000July 9, 201625 → 12.5 ₿$663$2,455 (+270%)
3rd halving630,000May 11, 202012.5 → 6.25 ₿$9,318$56,908 (+511%)
4th halving840,000April 20, 20246.25 → 3.125 ₿$64,286$84,774 (+32%)
5th halving1,050,000~March 31, 20283.125 → 1.5625 ₿

What a halving does to a miner

Every 210,000 blocks the new bitcoin in each block is cut in half. Nothing else changes overnight: the same machines hash at the same speed against the same difficulty, for half the coins. Hashprice halves on the day, and the least efficient machines on the most expensive power stop covering their electricity within weeks. The difficulty then falls until the network finds its new floor.

In each of the four so far, the price more than made up for the cut within eighteen months, which is why machines bought in the months around a halving, when hardware is cheapest and weaker miners are selling, have been the best purchases of every cycle. See miner revenue and hashprice with halvings marked.