The Halvening Stimulates Growth?
While at Get Paid In Bitcoin, we’re not guaranteeing that the halvening stimulates growth…
We are keen to introduce more women and men into the knowledge field of Bitcoin and crypto.
Our focus is on introducing as many people as possible into receiving payment regularly from wages, income, etc in Bitcoin, because we’re wanting to ensure specifically that working parents don’t miss the boat from being ensconced in the Busyness Syndrome.
Many of us miss important messages because we simply don’t have time to look at things in depth. (Talking all working people.) It’s part of the modern I’m-so-busy disease. It’s a social conditioning observation and a commentary on modern life. As a result, we miss out on amazing opportunities like the Bitcoin halvening (due to happen in about 2 weeks).
It certainly happened to me in 2014 when Bitcoin was first waved under my nose. I was too caught up with kids and family life to stop, look, listen, learn and ultimately benefit. (That eventual listening didn’t come back to me until early 2017.)
Coming up in the next couple of weeks is a 4-yearly phenomenon known as The Halving (or the Halvening) which gets the Bitcoin crowd buzzing.
Why, you might ask?
The Halvening Stimulates Growth
Some people are convinced that the halvening stimulates growth. And some think it won’t. Either way, historically, during the past halvings (of which there have been two), prices have eventually gone up dramatically.
Joe Shew of Crypto Consulting Institute who runs educational programmes for safe investment in cryptocurrencies says:
There’s a lot of hype around the halvening and an expectation that prices will increase based on what’s happened before. The truth is it’s an event that has only occurred 2 times before, meaning there is limited data to make an informed decision.
The market is in a different position than prior halvenings, which can have a considerable impact on the outcome. Slightly more favourable I believe, given what is happening in traditional markets right now.
History has a way of repeating itself and we could very well see similar explosive growth after the halvenings like before. With this being said, I would collect as much data as possible to make these predictions. The halvening in itself, is only ONE indicator of what might happen next.
Whilst traditional markets have fired up the money printers with what seems to be ‘no limits’, the intelligent alternate markets have a cap to the supply AND a way controlling distribution….
It’s this notion of scarcity that gets most Bitcoiners pumped. The less Bitcoin are being created, the less are being moved through the system. Let’s assume there’s ongoing demand for Bitcoin in this outrageously uncertain market, (where people are seeking a safe-haven from the collapsing cash economy). As a result, it might just mean a monumental growth in the price of Bitcoin in the near future…
Halvening: A Reduction in Bitcoin Block Rewards
Halving refers to a reduction in Bitcoin block rewards issued to miners by half. But what does that mean, you ask?
Well every time ‘miners’ around the globe (using enormous computing power), independently ‘verify’ Bitcoin transactions on the blockchain they issue a hash (a 256-bit number that uniquely identifies the data in the block). These nodes on the network need to solve a complex mathematical ‘puzzle’ in order to create each hash code.
“The node creates new coins when they generate the hash for the block. In order for their coins to be valid the block needs to be accepted as valid by the rest of the nodes on the network who verify its accuracy.”
~ Kieran Mesquita, Cryptocurrency Developer
Why Does Halvening Occur?
We learned that miners get paid in Bitcoin for every transaction they verify.
Satoshi Nakamoto (Bitcoin’s anonymous creator) programmed the halving of newly minted Bitcoin every 210,000 blocks, in order to prevent inflation from decreasing the purchasing power of Bitcoin. (Ahem, as opposed to our current dollar-printing, inflation-on-steroids machines running hot.)
Currently the reward is 12.5 of newly minted Bitcoin that were not previously in circulation. When the halving occurs in May 2020, the block reward will halve (or reduce by half) which will give miners 6.25 units of newly minted bitcoin per validated block.
The annual inflation rate of Bitcoin is 3.8% with approximately 1800 Bitcoin minted every day. After the halving of the block reward rate to 6.25 Bitcoin in May, decreasing the annual inflation rate to 1.8%, which will make Bitcoin less inflationary than the US economy.
Couple this with the endless ‘money printing’ digital or otherwise, that’s going on in response to Covid-19, and… would you have a possible safe Bit-haven on your hands?
A Flight To Quality
In her Medium article published recently, JP Parker comments on the ‘flight to quality’. In the event of a house of cards crashing, we scramble looking for bricks (is my take on it)…
The Tortoise and the Hare, JP Parker on Medium
In the bigger economic picture, we’d be wise to consider that the aftermath of what’s occurring now will be felt far more poignantly in 6-9 months’ time (and well beyond). And that from that perspective, we can anticipate the proverbial ‘flight to quality.’ (What this means is that when a perceived crisis causes a loss of confidence, national currencies tend to lose their perceived value. Often very dramatically and very suddenly.)
Digital currency has been offered as a potential solution for some time, but there are caveats there as well. Bitcoin in particular, as a store of value, is still the most promising of the digital currencies to date. It’s not snazzy at all, and is a bit of a one-trick pony, but let’s just say it’s a great trick.
As for the ‘halvening’, as long as mining remains worthwhile to miners at the new rate of reward, it will continue. That’s it.
The Catalyst That Gets People To Consider Alternatives to Bank Accounts
We’d like to think that the notion of Bitcoin potentially increasing in value, is enough for more new people to jump in and ask “Where do I get some?”. But chances are, they’ll be doing this after the halving, once the price spikes.
It’s the psychology of the market dictating which way the wind will blow for the masses, and yet, the messaging is clear… get in now! What’s there to lose when governments the world over are the printing the guts out of our cash-dollar-value?
$10 contributions today could mean exponential growth tomorrow, if past performance is an indicator to take into consideration.
The First Time We’ve Seen A Halvening In A Recession
Not everyone feels an increase in value in Bitcoin is a given. Kieran Mesquita (crypto dev quoted above) thinks it could go in two ways:
1. The halving happens, inflation decreases, demand holds, we see a corresponding price increase, which compensates for the decreased miner income. Bullish outcome for Bitcoin.
2. The halving happens, inflation decreases but the demand isn’t enough to push price up to compensate for miners decreased income. Blocks slow to 20 minutes as hashrate halves, which drops profitability even more pushing more and more miners out until ones willing to mine at a loss, to get to the next difficulty adjustment, are left. Bearish outcome for Bitcoin.
Why Do You (Or Should You) Get Paid In Bitcoin?
Why then at the end of all this, should you sit up and take notice?
I see it like this: most times the opportunity to be part of a transfer of wealth drifts overhead of the majority of Ma and Pa families – working hard to keep up with payments: school, rent and mortgages, food and bills to name a few.
Time freedom (not). No time to deeply research alternatives to the current (failing) system.
Since most of us are head-down, bum-up busy with daily life, we miss out on vital information and access to services that make it really easy for us to be a part of that potential passage of future wealth.
Imagine if your mum and/or dad had bought you Bitcoin ten years ago. How much did Bitcoin cost in 2010?
In July 2010, the price jumped 800% from US $0.008 to $0.08 each, so if you bought your kids just $10 worth each, they’d now be in possession 125 Bitcoins – currently with a conservative market value of US $1,147,877.50 or AUD $1,740,311.30 (as of time of writing.)
I once went to a 21st birthday party of a wealthy Uni friend whose parents gifted her an apartment to mark the occasion. My parents couldn’t have done that for me, but they could have bought me $10 worth of Bitcoin (if it had been around then).
Don’t miss the boat because you’re too busy, or too unsure. Do your research and dip your toes.
You can get paid in Bitcoin for even just $10 – $20 a week, if that’s what you can spare right now. It’s known as ‘digital gold’ and now it’s up to you…