CNBC, by Arjun Kharpal

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KEY POINTS

# The bitcoin halving is imminent. This technical event, written in bitcoin’s code, happens every four years. In simple terms, it is when the rewards for bitcoin miners are cut in half.

# The aim is to reduce the pace at which new bitcoin enter the market. Since there will ever only be 21 million bitcoin, the halving serves to create more bitcoin scarcity.

# In the past, halving has preceded massive rises in bitcoin prices to new all-time highs. But this time, things are different.

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The Bitcoin “halving” is almost upon us.

This technical event, written in bitcoin’s code, happens every four years. In simple terms, it is when the rewards for bitcoin miners are cut in half. This reduces the pace at which new bitcoins enter the market.

Since there will ever only be 21 million bitcoins, the halving serves to create more scarcity.

In the past, halving has preceded massive rises in bitcoin prices to new all-time highs. But this time, things are different.

Bitcoin has already hit a new record high, before the halving has taken place. That’s because the approval of spot bitcoin exchange-trade funds has excited the market and brought in lots of demand for the cryptocurrency.

In the latest episode of CNBC Tech’s “Beyond the Valley” podcast — which you can listen to above — Tom Chitty and I discuss what exactly the halving is and how this latest bitcoin cycle is different from the past.

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