After the halving, the block reward or subsidy associated with validating each new block of transactions on the Bitcoin network is cut in half. The block subsidy is the newly-created bitcoin that is included in the block as a reward to the associated miner. So in effect, the block subsidy for successful miners is now 3.125 bitcoin.
In addition to the subsidy, miners also collect any fees associated with the transactions in the block.
The halving block was mined by ViaBTC, and it was the 840,000th block mined on the Bitcoin network. However, it is interesting to note that the successful miner took home a little over 40 bitcoin or equivalent of more than $2.6 million in block subsidy and fees as their reward, according to data from mempool.space.1
mempool.space. "Block Subsidy has halved to 3.125 BTC per block."
This fees is much higher than the a little over 7 bitcoin, worth a little more than $450,000 were earned in total fees for successful validation of the blocks that immediately came before the halving block. The reason for this spike is unclear, but perhaps it was people willing to pay higher fees to get their transactions among the 3,050 included in the halving block.
In the past, halvings have led to new all-time highs for the bitcoin price in the months following the events.2 However, this time has been different, as the bitcoin price has already reached a new all-time in the months prior to the halving.
Much of the recent rally was driven by the spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF), perhaps an indication the demand created by that market may have a greater impact on bitcoin prices than halving events.
According to Kraken Head of Strategy Thomas Perfumo, there is a degree of additional symbolism associated with this halving in terms of the illustration of bitcoin's apolitical, unwavering monetary policy at a time when many people around the world are having questions about their own currencies.
According to these reports, the near-term effects of the halving may be limited to the bitcoin mining sector,