Bitcoin miners are preparing for this year’s 50 percent reduction in block reward by updating their mining hardware and software as experts predict significant profits by EOY.
In about 106 days from today, the fourth Bitcoin (BTC) halving will take place at block height 840,000. The Bitcoin halving 2024 will reduce the current block reward from 6.25 to 3.125, in a bid to lower the annual inflation and enhance the instrument’s competitiveness. Moreover, the rising demand for Bitcoin has seen long-term investors hold about 15 million coins out of the 19.58 million units in circulation. As of this report, the amount of Bitcoins in crypto exchanges amounts to about 2.1 million.
The drastic reduction in Bitcoin block reward will have a significant impact on the miners, who are responsible for securing the network and ensuring stability. As a result, Bitcoin miners are preparing both financially and technically for the halving event on April 19. According to on-chain data, Bitcoin miners have offloaded about 4k Bitcoin in the past few weeks. The notable sale increase from Bitcoin miners could be in a bid to update their mining infrastructure. Notably, the current Bitcoin hash rate stands at about 546.16 Exahashes/s.
“We have long been bullish on self-mining and the price of Bitcoin going up and to the right over time, and we believe the best-prepared miners will be positioned to capture upside following the halving,” Hut8 CEO Jaime Leverton.
Bitcoin Price Expectations with Upcoming Halving Event 2024
The Bitcoin halving event was designed to take place every four years and incentivize miners to protect the network, especially against the dreaded 51 percent attack. Historically, Bitcoin’s halving has triggered notable price increments in subsequent months, thus making 2024 a bullish year for the flagship coin, especially after enjoying a profitable 2023. Different analysts from various financial institutions have issued their Bitcoin predictions for 2024 considering the high demand from institutional investors and the upcoming halving event.
With the global debt having hit a record high of about $307 trillion in 2023 according to a recent report by the Institute of International Finance, Bitcoin is expected to play a crucial role in reducing the overall debt. Moreover, El Salvador has demonstrated that Bitcoin can be used as an efficient legal tender and still cater to the country’s debt.
In this regard, Messari has issued a thesis on the 2024 crypto landscape, whereby the firm expects Bitcoin price to exceed $600k during this macro bull cycle. However, the firm highlighted the regulatory hurdles facing the DeFi industry, despite the mainstream adoption of Bitcoin and blockchain technology.
“We probably won’t see another 100x for Bitcoin, but the asset could easily outperform other established asset classes once again in 2024. Eventual parity with gold would yield a price per BTC of over $600,000,” analysts at Messari concluded.
Meanwhile, global investment manager VanEck expects Bitcoin price to comfortably reach $275k but cautioned crypto traders not to be surprised if the asset hits $30k soon.
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