Bitcoin Halving Explained in Plain English: The 4-Year Event That Keeps Making Millionaires
If you’ve been anywhere near crypto Twitter, Telegram, or YouTube in the last decade, you’ve heard the word “Halving” thrown around like it’s the second coming. And honestly? It kind of is — at least for anyone who understands it and positions early.
In this ~1450-word deep dive, I’m going to break down exactly what Bitcoin halving is, why it happens, what happened in the previous four cycles, and why the next one in 2028 could be the biggest wealth transfer most of us will ever witness.
1. What Is Bitcoin Halving? (The Simplest Explanation)
Imagine you own the only gold mine on Earth. Right now you dig up 900 new ounces every day and sell them. One day you announce: “From tomorrow, I’m only digging 450 ounces per day.”
Old gold already in circulation stays the same. But new gold entering the market just got cut in half overnight. If demand stays the same (or grows), the price of gold explodes. That’s exactly what Bitcoin halving does — but on a perfect, predictable, unchangeable schedule.
Every 210,000 blocks (roughly every 4 years), the amount of new Bitcoin miners receive for securing the network gets slashed by 50%. This is coded into Bitcoin from day one by Satoshi Nakamoto. No votes, no central bank meetings — it just happens.
2. Why Did Satoshi Design It This Way?
Satoshi watched fiat currencies get debased for decades. He knew unlimited printing destroys value. So he did three genius things:
- Capped total supply at exactly 21 million BTC
- Made new issuance decrease on a fixed schedule
- Made the code practically impossible to change
The result? Bitcoin has a built-in scarcity stronger than gold. Gold gets new supply every year from mines. Bitcoin’s new supply halves every four years until it eventually reaches zero around the year 2140.
3. Every Past Halving & What Actually Happened to Price
| Halving # | Date | Block Reward Before → After | Price at Halving | Peak 12–18 Months Later | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 28 Nov 2012 | 50 → 25 BTC | $12 | $1,150 (Nov 2013) | ~9,500% |
| 2nd | 9 Jul 2016 | 25 → 12.5 BTC | $650 | $19,800 (Dec 2017) | ~3,000% |
| 3rd | 11 May 2020 | 12.5 → 6.25 BTC | $8,800 | $69,000 (Nov 2021) | ~680% |
| 4th | 19 Apr 2024 | 6.25 → 3.125 BTC | $64,000 | $103,000+ (so far, Nov 2025) | Ongoing cycle |
The pattern is undeniable. Every single halving has been followed by a massive bull run 6–18 months later. The returns get smaller in percentage terms only because the market cap is now hundreds of times larger — but the absolute dollar gains are bigger than ever.
4. Real-Life Millionaire Stories from the Last Cycle
Rahul from Mumbai (2020 Halving)
May 2020: Put ₹10 lakh into Bitcoin at ~₹7.5 lakh per BTC → bought ~1.33 BTC
Nov 2021: Portfolio worth ₹90+ lakh when BTC hit $69k
Today (Nov 2025): Still holding → worth ₹1.3+ crore
He bought a 3BHK in Pune cash with profits and still has over 1 BTC left.
Priya, Software Engineer in Bangalore
Started DCA $200/month from Jan 2020 → accumulated ~2.1 BTC by the 2024 halving
Current value: ~$210,000+ (₹1.75 crore)
Quit her job last month to travel full-time.
These aren’t whales or insiders — just regular people who understood one simple thing: halving = less new supply + growing demand = higher price.
5. The 2028 Halving Could Be the Biggest One Ever
By April 2028, the block reward will drop from 3.125 BTC to just 1.5625 BTC. That means daily new issuance falls from ~450 BTC to ~225 BTC — less than $20–25 million at current prices.
Meanwhile demand is exploding:
- Spot Bitcoin ETFs already hold over 1 million BTC in 2025 and growing fast
- Countries like Bhutan, El Salvador, and rumors about bigger nations are stacking
- Corporate treasuries (MicroStrategy alone has 400k+ BTC)
- Over 98% of all Bitcoin that will ever exist will be mined by 2028
Daily demand already routinely exceeds $1–3 billion on bull days. When new supply drops to $20 million/day, basic economics takes over. Analysts like PlanB (Stock-to-Flow model), Cathie Wood, and Michael Saylor are calling for $500k–$1M+ per Bitcoin by 2030. Many believe most of that move happens in the 2028–2029 cycle.
6. The Four Forces That Amplify Every Halving
- Supply Shock – New coins literally cut in half
- Media Cycle – CNN, Bloomberg, every news channel starts talking Bitcoin again
- FOMO + Retail Rush – New money floods in chasing the move
- Institutional Front-Running – BlackRock, Fidelity, pension funds buy early to beat competitors
It’s like clockwork.
7. The Biggest Mistakes People Make Around Halving
90% of people lose money around halving because they:
- Buy at the absolute top of the post-halving mania and panic-sell the dip
- Chase random altcoins instead of sticking to Bitcoin
- Take profits at 2x–3x thinking they’re smart (while the real move is 10x–20x)
The winning play is boring: Start accumulating 6–18 months before the halving, keep buying the dips, and hold through the entire next cycle (usually 18–24 months after the event).
Where We Stand Right Now (November 17, 2025)
We are only 19 months past the April 2024 halving. Historically, the biggest gains come in months 12–24 after the event. We’re right in that sweet spot.
The next halving is roughly 880 days away (early 2028). Anyone who starts stacking consistently from today has a realistic shot at life-changing returns by 2029–2030.
Final Words
Bitcoin halving isn’t hype. It isn’t speculation. It’s the most predictable, most powerful supply-shock event in the history of money — happening on a countdown timer visible to the entire world.
The people who got rich in 2013, 2017, and 2021 weren’t geniuses. They just respected the halving.
The clock is ticking for the 2028 cycle. You’ve still got time — but not as much as you think.
Start small if you have to. Dollar-cost average. Hold your keys. And let the most powerful monetary event in your lifetime do the rest.
Founder, infinityxverse.com