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Bitcoin has a built-in scripting language that allows for the creation of simple smart contracts. However, the scripting language has limitations, and some of the original opcodes (operation codes) were disabled in the early days of Bitcoins development. One such opcode is OP_CAT, which has recently resurfaced in discussions within the Bitcoin community.

OP_CAT, short for Operation Concatenate, is an opcode that was initially proposed by Bitcoins creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. The opcode allows for the joining of two data values on the stack within a Bitcoin transaction script. In simpler terms, it enables the combination of two pieces of data into a single piece of data during the execution of a Bitcoin transaction.

With the introduction of the Taproot upgrade and its limited stack size, the original vulnerability that led to the removal of OP_CAT has been mitigated. This has prompted discussions within the Bitcoin community about the potential reactivation of the opcode.

If reactivated, OP_CAT could enable more advanced smart contracts and covenants (spending conditions) to be implemented on the Bitcoin network. This could unlock new use cases, such as:

1. Secure document signing

2. Creation of complex data structures

3. Hashrate escrows

4. Automated market makers

The timeline for the potential reactivation of OP_CAT is uncertain and depends on various factors. Elizabeth Olson, a prominent figure in the Bitcoin space, has suggested that if the proposal to reactivate OP_CAT is approved, we could see its implementation on the Bitcoin network within six months to a year.

However, it is essential to note that the process of reaching consensus within the Bitcoin community and thoroughly testing the opcodes implementation may take longer than anticipated. The Bitcoin community is known for its cautious approach to protocol changes, prioritizing the security and stability of the network above all else.

While the reactivation of OP_CAT could bring new possibilities to the Bitcoin network, there are some concerns and challenges that need to be addressed:

1. Script size inflation: The use of OP_CAT could potentially increase the size of Bitcoin scripts, which could impact the networks efficiency.

2. Security risks: As with any change to the Bitcoin protocol, thorough testing and analysis would be required to ensure that the reactivation of OP_CAT does not introduce any new security vulnerabilities.

3. Achieving consensus: For OP_CAT to be reactivated, the Bitcoin community would need to reach a consensus on the implementation and activation of the opcode, which can be a challenging process.

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What is OP_CAT? Satoshi's dormant opcode that could revolutionize Bitcoin's smart contracts - Crypto Briefing

Alex Dovbnya

The fluke-disproving DOG meme coin has revived Runes Protocol

Ordinals developer Leonidas Leonidas, who also founded the Runestone project,believes that Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, is "almost certainly aware" of the current meme coin frenzy on the blockchain if they are still alive.

"It's crazy to think that if Satoshi is still alive he is almost certainly aware of $DOG and the new memecoin trend on his chain," he wrote on the X social media network.

Runes Protocol, which went live after Bitcoin's halving, is a new token standard that makes it possible to issue fungible tokens on the Bitcoin blockchain. It was developed by developer Casey Rodarmor, the mastermind behind much-hyped Bitcoin Ordinals.

The protocol acts as an additional layer on top of the main chain. It functions within Bitcoin's existing infrastructure.

Asreported by U.Today, Bitcoin experienced a massive surge in fees following the launch of Runes Protocol. On Apr. 20, it managed to generate 24 times more fees compared to rival Ethereum. Runes Protocol.

This massive spike in fees turned out to be short-lived. The protocol's momentum ended up waning in a relatively short period of time, and Bitcoin fees returned to normal relatively quickly.

After the initial hype dissipated, the protocol is once again making waves because of meme coin exuberance.

The Bitcoin-based DOGGOTOTHEMOON (DOG) meme coin has surged by nearly 24% over the past 24 hours over the past 24 hours. In fact, it is now close to approaching the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap after its valuation reached nearly $800 million.

About the author

Alex Dovbnya

Alex Dovbnya (aka AlexMorris) is a cryptocurrency expert, trader and journalist with extensive experience of covering everything related to the burgeoning industry from price analysis to Blockchain disruption. Alex authored more than 1,000 stories for U.Today, CryptoComes and other fintech media outlets. Hes particularly interested in regulatory trends around the globe that are shaping the future of digital assets, can be contacted at alex.dovbnya@u.today.

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Satoshi "Almost Certainly" Aware of DOG Meme Coin If They Are Alive, Ordinals Developer Says - U.Today

KEY POINTS

Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have come a long way just over four months since their approval by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) the ETFs collectively hold more than 1 million Bitcoins or 5% of the world's total BTC supply.

MicroStrategy founder and executive chairman Michael Saylor posted a chart Monday that showed a total of 32 global spot BTC ETFs hold 1,002,343 Bitcoins as of May 24. Most of the BTC are held by American spot Bitcoin ETF issuers, including BlackRock's popular IBIT and Fidelity's FBTC.

Decrypt has verified the data posted by Saylor based on public records and corroborated by data from Coinglass's BTC ETF dashboard. According to the chart, the total value of the Bitcoin ETFs' BTC holdings are at $69,161,667,000.

The chart notes that Grayscale's previously unpopular GBTC is the holder of 289,040 Bitcoins, while IBIT, which has been a top choice for many retail investors since the funds launched, holds 287,168 BTC. Outside the United States, Canadian Purpose's BTCC leads the way with over 27,000 BTC holdings, followed by ETC Group's BTCE that holds over 20,800 Bitcoins.

The Bitcoin community on X (formerly Twitter) are celebrating the major milestone. One user said Saylor has just "casually" dropped a "new naming convention for 1 million $BTC." The tech magnate referred to a million Bitcoins as "1 Nakamoto," seemingly a tribute to Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of the world's first decentralized and largest digital asset by market value.

Another user said the holdings signal "institutional acceptance" and the "growing trust of the general public in Bitcoin" as they are now integrating the digital coin into their investment portfolios. Other users celebrated the journey BTC has had since its introduction to the world by Nakamoto in a 2008 white paper.

News of the massive milestone for BTC ETFs comes amid the digital currency's struggle in the past few days to shoot past the $70,000-mark, which it achieved last week, ahead of the approval of spot ETFs for Ether (ETH), Bitcoin's closest rival.

For some Bitcoiners, the approval of spot ETH ETFs may be a bane for the digital asset. However, Saylor recently said he thinks "it may be better" for the asset since the new Ether funds "can serve as another line of defense" for Bitcoin.

Meanwhile, institutional interest on BTC ETFs has been apparent in recent weeks. Some of the country's key traditional financial institutions have disclosed their Bitcoin ETF holdings during the 13F season, including Millennium Management, which leads the pack with a staggering $2 billion portfolio.

Investment banking giant Morgan Stanley also disclosed it has some $270 million worth of Grayscale's GBTC, while the State of Wisconsin's Investment Board (SWIB) disclosed it holds nearly $100 million worth of IBIT.

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Bitcoin ETFs Collectively Hold '1 Nakamoto' Worth Over $69.1 Billion - International Business Times

U.Today - An early contributor, Martti Malmi, has shared a collection of previously undisclosed emails with Satoshi Nakamoto. These emails shed new light on Bitcoin's early days and Nakamoto's philosophical approach to the digital currency.

Key among these insights is Nakamoto's perspective on Bitcoin as primarily a medium of exchange, not merely an investment vehicle. He highlighted the energy efficiency of Bitcoin's proof-of-work mechanism compared to traditional banking, addressing environmental concerns before they became a major talking point.

Bitcoin/USD Chart by TradingViewNakamoto's email from May 2, 2009, commends Malmi for grasping Bitcoin's potential, mentioning that linking Bitcoin to fiat currencies could boost its value a topic he was hesitant to discuss publicly until the right moment. He also stressed the importance of preparing for an influx of users, anticipating widespread adoption.

Furthermore, Nakamoto envisioned Bitcoin's ability to scale up to handle transaction volumes much larger than those handled by conventional financial systems, at a fraction of the cost. He assured that as the network grew, it would become more secure, dismissing early vulnerabilities as minor startup issues.

Another interesting and somewhat funny detail from the emails is Nakamoto's request for help with website content. This humanizes the often mythologized figure of Nakamoto, showing his willingness to collaborate and delegate.

Bitcoin-like encryption, backups and user-friendliness were also topics of discussion. They have shown that Nakamoto is committed to making Bitcoin accessible and secure for masses.

These email exchanges enrich the narrative around Satoshi Nakamoto and Bitcoin's origins and provide more interesting details, which, when analyzed, may shed more light on Nakamoto's secret identity. For now, only one thing is clear: Satoshi Nakamoto's vision is close to what we have today, despite the continuous evolution of Bitcoin.

This article was originally published on U.Today

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Fundamental Satoshi Nakamoto Statement Revealed From Hidden Emails - Investing.com

U.Today - Venture investor, founder of Pomp Investments private credit fund Anthony Pompliano has taken to his X account to send a message about Satoshi Nakamoto and the Bitcoin halving to his numerous followers.

He jokingly tweeted that the enigmatic Bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto missed a big opportunity to set the halving day as April 20. This day is known as the weed day and more recently, as the Day, even though the iconic meme cryptocurrency was not released in April.

Thus, Pompliano implied that Satoshi Nakamoto had missed an opportunity to integrate its brainchild even deeper into the minds of average people. Bitcoin was made to oppose fiat money and the traditional banking system in the first place, but weed has been known to be a symbol of opposing the system for decades now. It has been also legalized in many countries already.

Image via XUsers tweeted that for the aforementioned countries, the halving took place not on April 19 but on April 20. One user tweeted that Satoshi Nakamoto was based in Europe, therefore he certainly kept that 4/20 day in mind.

Numerous cryptocurrency platforms, including one of the most popular meme coins Floki, have published tweets to congratulate their communities on the Dogecoin day.

This article was originally published on U.Today

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Satoshi Missed 'Big Opportunity' Avoiding This Date for Bitcoin Halving: Anthony Pompliano - Investing.com

The Bitcoin halving is imminent.

But even if you know what it is, you may not know why it is.

In our view, the halving exists to make bitcoin interesting and interesting things attract attention. Bitcoins pseudonymous inventor, Satoshi Nakamoto, could have chosen a boring issuance schedule. Instead, he imbued bitcoin with a seasonal fireworks display, commanding attention from an increasingly wide and diverse group of bitcoin users.

Bitcoin famously has a supply cap of 21 million, 1.3 million of which remain unminted.The network will mint these coins through the year 2140 in the same way bitcoins have always been minted.

Satoshi designed the system himself to reward miners who publish new blocks. He could have designed those rewards to hold steady over time with a constant amount per block, say 10. Or he might have designed the rewards to decrease steadily at a constant rate.

Read more: Why is 2140 the end of bitcoin inflation?

Satoshi instead chose halvings. Every 210,000 blocks, the block reward suddenly drops by half. The first 210,000 blocks each yielded 50 new bitcoin to the miner; the next 210,000 blocks yielded 25; and so on. Tomorrow, and for the next four years, each block will yield 3.125 bitcoin.

By their very nature, halvings bring an economic shock, especially to miners. Block 840,0001 will appear roughly ten minutes after block 840,000. But the miner of block 840,000 will earn $400,000 worth of new bitcoin, while the miner of block 840,001 will earn only $200,000 worth of bitcoin at todays prices, anyway.

Bitcoins volatility owes, in part, to its halving schedule. If demand remains relatively constant despite a sudden drop in newly available bitcoin, bitcoins price will likely increase. At least, thats what has happened historically.

The dollar price of bitcoin increased 5,000% between the first and second halving, from $12.53 in November 2012 to $640 in July 2016; 1,300% between the second and third halving, from $640 in July 2016 to $9,000 in May 2020; and 700% between the third and fourth halving, from $9,000 in May 2020 to $70,000 in April 2024. Of course, bitcoins price has also crashed many times during those periods. Like the weather, demand is a fickle thing.

Read more from our opinion section: Bitcoins most promising, least dramatic halving is almost here

Halvings also spark discussions about bitcoins price volatility in the short term and price trajectory in the long term. Each halving brings up the same inevitable question, especially considering past wild post-halving price swings: What will we see this time? For weeks now, TV networks have been interviewing CEOs and bitcoin thought leaders about the potential impact that the halving might have on bitcoins price.

We think Satoshi anticipated the potential for this kind of frenzy, and deliberately chose the four-year halving cycle to attract attention to bitcoin.

Satoshi was familiar with the idea of global spectacles that happen every four years. The World Cup and the Olympics garner massive attention especially from people who otherwise rarely watch sports! Would you watch the Olympics annually? Monthly? Not likely. These events garner interest partly because of their rarity. The interval allows for hype, and interest, to build. Networks run specials on the athletes expected to make a splash. Magazines run photo spreads. And when the opening ceremonies finally broadcast, three billion people watch worldwide.

Satoshi was a master promoter. He designed logos, built chat forums and schemed with users on those forums about how to stir up interest in bitcoin. He also designed a system to capture interest by being interesting.

Compare bitcoin to gold. Gold has a global brand earned over millennia. But whens the last time gold mining caught major headlines? If we mined an asteroid for gold or discovered that we had mined every last nugget that would capture attention. As things stand, however, gold mining is steady, predictable and unremarkable. Bitcoin is predictable, too. Yet it is predictably unsteady, especially with halvings thrown in, and thus remarkable.

Bitcoin is much younger than gold, with just 15 years since its creation. Yet bitcoins quadrennial halving events and corresponding price fluctuations garner headlines worldwide. Interest has snowballed with every halving, as have new users. Thats the goal.

Bitcoin halvings are spectacles, by design. And the design seems to be working. After all, it brought you to this article.

The authors are co-authors of the forthcoming academic book Resistance Money: A Philosophical Case for Bitcoin (Routledge Press).

Andrew M. Bailey is an interdisciplinary teacher and scholar whose work spans philosophy, politics, and economics. He is Associate Professor of Humanities at Yale-NUS College (Singapore).

Bradley Rettler is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wyoming, and has published peer-reviewed academic articles on metaphysics, philosophy of religion, epistemology, and cryptocurrency

Craig Warmke researches money at the intersection of philosophy, economics, and computer science. He is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Northern Illinois University.

Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

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Bitcoin's halving is a major spectacle that's the whole point - Blockworks

Bitcoin is expected to go through a "halving" within the next day or two, a preprogrammed event that could impact production of the world's largest cryptocurrency.

A halving, which occurs about every four years, was designed by bitcoin's creator,Satoshi Nakamoto, to effectively reduce by half the reward that miners of the digital token receive. The idea is that by cutting in half the amount bitcoin miners currently make for their efforts, fewer bitcoins will enter the market, creating more scarcity of the cryptocurrency.

That's sparked some speculation that the halving could cause a surge in demand and push up the price of bitcoin, which has already risen almost 50% since year start. Much of the credit for bitcoin's recent rally is given to the early success of a new way to invest in the asset spot bitcoin ETFs, which were only approved by U.S. regulators in January.

click to expand

Here's what to know about bitcoin's "halving."

Bitcoin miners get a fixed reward when they successfully validate a new block on the bitcoin blockchain. That reward is currently 6.25 bitcoin, worth about $402,000, based on today's trading price for the token.

After the halving, miners will receive 3.125 bitcoin for achieving the same goal. As a result, the rate at which new bitcoins enter the market should also fall, slowing the supply of coins. According to limits set by Satoshi Nakamoto, only a maximum of 21 million bitcoins will ever exist, of which more than 19.5 million have already been mined, leaving fewer than 1.5 million left to be created.

The last such event happened in May 2020, when bitcoin's price stood at around $8,602, according to CoinMarketCap.

By May 2021, the value of bitcoin had surged almost seven-fold to almost $57,000.

Halving is scheduled to occur regularly after the creation of every 210,000 "blocks" where transactions are recorded during the mining process, that are added to the blockchain.

While there aren't any set calendar dates for this to occur, it generally works out to roughly once every four years. The latest estimates expect the next halving to occur sometime late Friday or early Saturday.

Some believe that it will be a non-event for bitcoin's price because the cryptocurrency has already experienced a big run-up this year.

"Investors, traders and speculators priced-in the halving months ago," said Nigel Green, the CEO of financial services firm deVere Group, in an email. "As a result, a significant portion of the positive economic impact was experienced previously, driving up prices to fresh all-time highs last month."

Still, others say that bitcoin could get a bump, at least longer-term. Growing demand due to the new ETFs, combined with the supply shock of the next halving, could help push bitcoin's price even higher, said Bitwise senior crypto research analyst Ryan Rasmussen.

"We would expect the price of bitcoin to have a strong performance over the next 12 months," he said. Rasmussen notes that he's seen some predict gains reaching as high as $400,000, but the more "consensus estimate" is closer to the $100,000-$175,000 range.

Miners will likely be pressed to become more energy efficient, or may need to raise new capital, experts said.

In its recent research report, Bitwise found that total miner revenue slumped one month after each of the three previous halvings. But those figures had rebounded significantly after a full year, thanks to spikes in the price of bitcoin as well as larger miners expanding their operations.

Time will tell how mining companies fare following this next looming halving. But Rasmussen is betting that big players will continue to expand and utilize the industry's technology advances to make operations more efficient.

With reporting by the Associated Press.

Aimee Picchi is the associate managing editor for CBS MoneyWatch, where she covers business and personal finance. She previously worked at Bloomberg News and has written for national news outlets including USA Today and Consumer Reports.

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A bitcoin halving is imminent. Here's what that means. - CBS News

Valeria Blokhina

U.Todays news digest helps you stay tuned on the most recent events in the crypto world

Check out the top three news stories over the past day presented to you by U.Today.

A recent X post from Ripple CTO David Schwartzhas sparked heated discussions on the topic of the real identity of pseudonymous Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto. It all started with a claim from a prominent Bitcoin community member known as "Ryuushi," according to whom Craig Wright remains "the most likely person to be Satoshi," despite recent legal setbacks. The claim immediately caught Schwartz's attention;the CTO replied that Wright had a perfect opportunity to prove his identity as Nakamoto during the trial, but he failed to do so. "I'm more likely to be Satoshi than Craig is," concluded Schwartz in his X post. Such a reaction has once again ignited rumors of Schwartz's potential connection to Nakamoto. Some theorists consider the Ripple CTO to be a plausible candidate for Nakamoto's identity, given his extensive background in cryptography.

As tokenization is gaining traction in the United Kingdom, UK Finance, the British trade association, is expanding its pilot project aimed attesting tokenized deposits. According to a recentreport by Bloomberg, among the banking giants that participated in the pilot are Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group Plc and Citigroup Inc., with Mastercard and Visa, the worlds biggest credit card networks, also being involved. The trial is anticipated to last up to three years, before the commercial implementation of the technology. The first results of the experiment will be revealed in August of this year. Meanwhile, per recent reports, the future of the digital pound, or Britcoin, is surrounded with uncertainty. Although the Bank of England first started exploring it back in 2021, the project has not seen much progress.

Jan3 CEO and renowned Bitcoin enthusiast Samson Mow has recently taken to X platformto share his take on when he expects the Omega time for the Bitcoin price to arrive and to make some remarks on the upcoming Bitcoin halving event.In his X thread, Mow wrote that fear of certain negative developments in the Middle East led to Bitcoin's price plunge over the weekend, with TradeFi markets having their share of panic. However, Mow believes, this is all an overreaction and will wash over soon. After that, the "Omega time" for Bitcoin will follow. Then, the Jan3 CEO touched upon the BTC halving, referring to it as the spark of a massive supply shock. Mow underscored that the Bitcoin demand shock is happening right now, as spot Bitcoin ETFs have been absorbing immense amounts of BTC since mid-January, when the SEC approved ETF trading.

About the author

Valeria Blokhina

Valeria is the community manager at U.Today. She is a crypto enthusiast and believes that cryptocurrency is the future of finance. Currently, Valeria covers the latest news in the world of crypto and blockchain.

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Ripple CTO Shares Unexpected Satoshi Nakamoto Statement, Major British Banks Testing Tokenized Deposits: Crypto News Digest by U.Today - U.Today

A recent set of emails between Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous founder of Bitcoin, and one of the cryptocurrency's early adopters, Marty Malmi, shed light on the digital currency's initial philosophy and initial operational problems.

These emails, discovered during legal proceedings involving Craig Wright, reveal Nakamoto's specific goals for Bitcoin, specifically his concern that it would be perceived as a speculative asset and his concerns about anonymity.

The leaked e-mail conversations show that Nakamoto had reservations about classifying Bitcoin primarily as an investment. This perspective is important because it underscores his view of Bitcoin as a means of payment and not solely as a speculative tool. This distinction underscores Bitcoin's utility for transactions without the need for a trusted third partya key feature of its creation.

Another highlight of the announcement is Nakamoto's attitude to anonymity. Contrary to popular belief that Bitcoin itself is an anonymous network, Nakamoto recommends a cautious approach to anonymity. He suggested that while Bitcoin offers the possibility of anonymity, the community needs to recognize its shortcomings in this regard.

In his emails, he presents a thoughtful concept of privacy that takes into account the real presence of these technologies, including their characteristics and limitations. This approach not only avoids potential legal and moral complications, but also helps create a high-quality user base.

Nakamoto also shed light on the environmental impact of Bitcoin's proof-of-work (PoW) system. He was aware of early criticisms about the mechanism's energy consumption, but even then he pointed to PoW's energy efficiency compared to traditional banking systems.

In addition, Nakamoto expresses confidence in the scalability of Bitcoin, which can handle volumes several times larger than those of traditional financial systems, but at a much lower cost. These moments demonstrate his foresight and willingness to tackle future challenges that will eventually become the subject of debate among crypto advocates.

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New emails reveal Satoshi Nakamoto's original vision for Bitcoin - Cryptodnes.bg

Now a hotly anticipated recurring event that happens roughly every four years is taking place: the bitcoin halving. This could have further significant impact on the value of the cryptocurrency.

To understand what the halving is and what it could mean, we have to understand how bitcoin works. Bitcoin is a digital currency that makes use of what's called blockchain technology to securely store, record and publicly publish all transactions.

It is distinct from fiat currencies, such as dollars or pounds, because it has no central authority and members of the network have equal power. Each transaction is made and recorded with the user's public address, a code that enables them to remain anonymous.

Bitcoins are created by so-called miners who contribute computing power to secure the network and solve complex mathematical puzzles in order to process transaction data. These miners are then rewarded for their work with newly minted bitcoins.

The idea for bitcoin was first proposed in a white paper published online in 2008 by a mysterious individual or group using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. To combat inflation, Nakamoto wrote into the code that the total number of bitcoins will only ever be 21 million. Currently, more than 19.6 million bitcoins have been mined.

At the beginning, back in 2009, miners received 50 bitcoins for every block (unit of transaction data) they mined. But after every 210,000 blocks (roughly every four years), the reward halves.

So in 2012 the reward fell to 25 bitcoins, then to 12.5 bitcoins in 2016 and to 6.25 bitcoins in 2020. The latest halving means the reward will be just 3.125 bitcoins.

Why does bitcoin halve?

Nakamoto has never explained explicitly the reasons behind the halving. Some speculate that the halving system was designed to distribute coins more quickly at the beginning to incentivise people to join the network and mine new blocks. Block rewards are programmed to halve at regular intervals because the value of each coin rewarded is deemed likely to increase as the network expands.

But this may lead to users holding bitcoin as a speculative asset rather than using it as a medium of exchange. Additionally, the 21 million cap on the number of coins that can enter circulation makes them scarce (at least in comparison to dollars or euros), which for some people is enough to make them valuable.

So what impact does the halving have on the price? After the halving, the number of new bitcoin entering circulation shrinks. Demand should, in theory, be unaffected by this event and therefore the price should go up.

"The theory is that there will be less bitcoin available to buy if miners have less to sell," said Michael Dubrovsky, a co-founder of PoWx, a crypto research non-profit. While the first halving happened in 2012, when bitcoin was less well known and quite hard to buy and sell, we can learn from the subsequent two halvings.

The second halving on July 16 2016 was highly anticipated. The price dropped by 10 percent, but then shot back up to where it had been before. Although the immediate impact on the price was small, bitcoin did eventually respond and some argue that the 2017 bull run when the market boomed was a delayed result of the halving.

Beginning the year around US$900, by the end of 2017 bitcoin was trading above US$19,000. The third halving in 2020 happened during a bullish period for bitcoin and it continued to rise to more than US$56,000 in 2021.

Making an asset of scarcity

These few data points are not enough however to offer any concrete causal relationship or trend. But we do know that instantly miners' rewards are halved, meaning their revenue immediately halves and their profit margins are severely affected. Consequently, unless there is a price appreciation, many miners may become unprofitable and could cease the practice.

Bitcoin's scarcity is arguably one of its most significant characteristics, especially in a time of high inflation, quantitative easing and high interest rates. With the real value of fiat currencies falling, bitcoin's limited supply is an attractive feature and can be reassuring for investors.

Bitcoin hit an all-time high in February following the approval of bitcoin exchange-traded funds, which effectively make it easier for retail investors and big banks to invest in bitcoin.

This, coupled with a more favorable regulatory environment on the horizon and the fact that it is becoming more integrated in the financial system, means bitcoin may continue on the rise it has experienced in 2024 so far.

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Andrew Urquhart is a professor of Finance & Financial Technology, ICMA Centre, Henley Business School at University of Reading in England.

This article was republished under a Creative Commons license with The Conversation. The views and opinions in this article are solely those of the author.

https://theconversation.com/bitcoin-is-halving-again-what-does-that-mean-for-the-cryptocurrency-and-the-market-228213

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Bitcoin is halving again what does that mean for cryptocurrency and market? - Aju Press