Bitcoin's long-awaited third halving arrives
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By Anna J. Park
Despite the long-awaited third halving of bitcoin that fell on May 11, the price of cryptocurrency is not showing signs of a rapid rally yet.
Rather, the price has remained between the mid-$8,000 to high-$8,000-range, despite hourly fluctuations since the price reached $10,000 on May 7, the highest level since early February.
As of 3:45 UTC (Universal Time Coordinated) on May 12, bitcoin's price logged $8,697.21, a 1.5 percent increase from $8,566.45 recorded near the time of the third halving the previous day.
Bitcoin's third halving happened at 19:23 UTC (Universal Time Coordinated) on May 11, with which the reward of cryptocurrency miners would be cut in half to 6.25 bitcoin per block, from 12.5 bitcoin before the halving.
In its 11-year history, the cryptocurrency has been through two previous halvings back in November 2012 and July 2016. In the previous cases of halving, massive price hikes followed over the next couple of years, after a short-term period of fluctuation.
From November 2012 to 2014, the digital asset's price experienced a 10,000 percent increase. Bitcoin soared to nearly $20,000 in December, 2017 ― the digital coin's all-time high ― following the second halving in July 2016.
The next halving is expected to happen in 2024, while the last bitcoin is slated to be mined in late 2140 as the total supply of them is limited to some 21 million, although the exact timing could vary depending on a change of situation.
Cryptocurrency experts around the world, in general, believe the outlook for the digital asset is still rosy, given the impressive level of liquidity on a global scale with various fiscal and monetary stimulus packages implemented by many governments in the fight against COVID-19.
While the government currencies are under direct pressure of inflation from those measures, bitcoin is considered an alternative asset, hedging against risks from the inflation of those currencies. The price of bitcoin has increased by 25.2 percent since the start of this year, when the price logged $6,946.33 on Jan. 2, performing far better than more traditional assets such as stocks and bonds in the times of unprecedented uncertainty caused by the coronavirus.