The Bitcoin network is now more than halfway (50.01%) through its current halving cycle, with the next halving expected on April 12, 2028, in just under two years, according to mempool.space.
This cycle, called “epoch 5”, began in April 2024 and will continue until 2028.
A halving occurs every 210,000 blocks, approximately every four years, and reduces the reward miners receive by 50%.
This process controls the issuance of bitcoin and guarantees a predictable drop in its inflation rate (currently less than 1%). At present, the block subsidy is 3.125 BTC per block. With blocks mined on average every 10 minutes, approximately 450 BTC are issued daily.
This 10-minute schedule is maintained through difficulty adjustments, which occur every 2,016 blocks. The network increases or decreases mining difficulty based on how quickly blocks are found, ensuring consistency of broadcasts.
With approximately 104,986 blocks remaining in this cycle, Bitcoin’s supply continues its reliable path toward its hard cap. Each new epoch further reduces emissions and their inflation rate, thereby increasing their long-term scarcity.
Bitcoin has a fixed maximum supply of 21,000,000 coins, one of its main characteristics that underpins its scarcity. Recently, the network reached a major milestone with the mining of the 20 millionth bitcoin, meaning mining the last million will take another 114 years.
Post-Bitcoin Halving Gains Lag Previous Cycles
Bitcoin is up about 15% since the April 2024 halving, from around $64,000 to just under $75,000. It previously reached an all-time high of around $126,000 in October 2025, before falling around 50% to $60,000 in early February.
However, it underperformed previous cycles during the same period after the halving, continuing the trend of diminishing returns, according to Glassnode data.
This is widely expected as bitcoin matures, with greater adoption and a larger market cap requiring more capital to generate outsized gains. As a result, volatility decreases with each cycle and price action becomes more gradual compared to previous cycles.
