The amount of new Bitcoin awarded to miners for successfully adding a block to the blockchain. The reward started at 50 BTC per block and is cut in half approximately every four years through the halving process.
The amount of new Bitcoin awarded to miners for successfully adding a block to the blockchain. The reward started at 50 BTC per block and is cut in half approximately every four years through the halving process.
The block reward is the primary mechanism through which new Bitcoin enters circulation. When a miner successfully solves the cryptographic puzzle required to add a new block to the blockchain, they receive a predetermined amount of newly created Bitcoin. This reward serves two purposes: it incentivizes miners to expend energy securing the network, and it controls the rate at which new supply is introduced.
The block reward follows a fixed, predictable schedule coded into Bitcoin's protocol. It started at 50 BTC per block when Satoshi Nakamoto mined the genesis block in January 2009. Every 210,000 blocks (approximately four years), the reward is cut in half — a process known as the halving. The halvings so far: 50 to 25 BTC (2012), 25 to 12.5 BTC (2016), 12.5 to 6.25 BTC (2020), and 6.25 to 3.125 BTC (2024). This will continue until approximately 2140, when the reward approaches zero and all 21 million Bitcoin have been mined.
As the block reward decreases, transaction fees become an increasingly important part of miner revenue. This transition is essential to Bitcoin's long-term security model — once the block reward is negligible, miners must be sustained by fees alone. The decreasing issuance rate is what gives Bitcoin its deflationary supply schedule and is a key driver of the four-year market cycle.
As of the April 2024 halving, the block reward is 3.125 BTC per block. This means approximately 450 BTC are mined per day (144 blocks per day times 3.125 BTC). The next halving, expected around 2028, will reduce the reward to 1.5625 BTC per block.
When the block reward eventually reaches zero (around the year 2140), miners will be compensated solely through transaction fees. By that point, nearly all 21 million Bitcoin will have been mined. The transition to a fee-based security model is expected to be gradual, as the block reward has been declining in significance relative to fees for decades. A thriving fee market is essential for Bitcoin's long-term network security.
The block reward directly controls the rate of new Bitcoin supply entering the market. Each halving cuts the daily issuance in half, creating a supply shock. If demand remains constant or increases while new supply drops, basic economics suggests upward price pressure. This is why halvings have historically preceded major bull runs — the reduced sell pressure from miners can catalyze significant price appreciation.