The long-awaited fourth Bitcoin halving finally occurred after BTC posted its 840,000th block. This event is important as it is expected to have several impacts on the Bitcoin ecosystem and the crypto market in the future.
What to expect after Bitcoin’s halving
The Bitcoin halving has fallen drastically rewards for miners from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC for each block mined. This means that Bitcoin miners will earn a lower income of 450 BTC instead of the 900 BTC they earned before the fourth halving. This development is expected to have a serious effect on their operations, such as NewsBTC reported that they could lose as much as $10 billion after the halving.
While the effects of the halving may not be pleasant for BTC miners, the halving is considered necessary for the growth of the Bitcoin ecosystem. It makes Bitcoin (BTC) deflationary by reducing the rate at which more tokens enter circulation. This could make the flagship crypto scarcer and ultimately increase its value, as it has done in the US past three halvings.
In anticipation of history repeating itself, crypto analysts and experts have made several predictions about how high Bitcoin could rise this time after the halving. So far, the most bullish price forecast remains Samson Maaithe CEO of Jan3 and Bitcoiner, who predicts that the flagship crypto could rise to $1 million this year.
He added that this unprecedented price increase was possible given that BTC demand is expected to continue to exceed supply. institutional investors recently came on board via the Discover Bitcoin ETFs. The imbalance between Bitcoin supply and demand is also why crypto analyst MacronautBTC believes Bitcoin could rise to $237,000.
Billionaire Tim Draper also agrees that Bitcoin could reach such heights based on his prediction that the flagship crypto will reach $250,000 by 2025.
Implications for the broader crypto market
Crypto analyst Michaël van de Poppe recently predicted a narrative shift after the halving. He expects Bitcoin to take months to consolidate, while altcoins will move significantly higher during this period. This is plausible, considering Bitcoin does not experience that parabolic price increase until about six months after the halving.
During this period, altcoins love XRP and Cardano (ADA)that have underperformed to date will be closely watched as investors wait to see if they will show any sign of bullish momentum. Ethereum (ETH) will also be the focus of many in the crypto community as they watch how the second-largest crypto token by market cap will perform as Bitcoin (BTC) consolidates.
Interestingly, Van de Poppe expects the story to shift to Ethereum and projects in the future Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePIN) and Real World Assets (RWA) sector. That is why such projects are also worth keeping an eye on.
BTC bulls hold price above $63,000 | Source: BTCUSD on Tradingview.com
Featured image from Cointribune, chart from Tradingview.com
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