In the beginning, Bitcoin miners earned 25 Bitcoin per block. As of 2024, their per-block earnings dropped to 3.125 Bitcoin.
It is known as the halving and occurs every four years. It is a (virtual) hardwire in the program designed to slow the rate of availability, thus creating digital asset scarcity. The final Bitcoin will be mined sometime in 2140.
The halving is good news for long-term Bitcoin holders because (in theory) it increases the asset’s value, which has happened since its inception 15 years ago when it traded for around .0009.
The halving is challenging news for miners because it does not diminish their mining efforts, only their reward.
However, at current prices, 3.125 Bitcoin is around $212K, which isn’t bad for 10 minutes’ work, especially considering 25 Bitcoins were only around .02.
According to Compass Mining Inc., there are approximately 8,400 miners globally. This includes Bitcoin mining companies like Iris Energy and Core Scientific and garage-setup miners (like my mining friend).
With so many competing for the same piece of pie, the chances of garnering the entire block are rather slim.
The more GPU (graphics Processing Units) power, the better your chances of gathering a larger amount of the Bitcoin…
