According to U.Today, Samson Mow, the former Chief Security Officer at Blockstream and current CEO at Bitcoin-adoption company Jan3, has announced the arrival of the much-anticipated fourth Bitcoin halving, which he refers to as the '4th Bitcoin quantitative hardening.' This term is used in contrast to the quantitative easing frequently implemented by the U.S. Federal Reserve, which involves injecting billions of dollars into the economy, a move that many experts believe is causing the U.S. dollar to devalue.
Experts suggest that these quantitative easing measures were a significant factor in driving the Bitcoin price above $61,500 in April 2021 and then to an all-time high of $69,000 in November of the same year. In 2024, Bitcoin reached a new historic price peak of $73,750 in March, before the halving, a first for the cryptocurrency. Halving events reduce the number of new Bitcoins entering circulation as miners' block rewards. Following this halving, the rewards were cut from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC, where they will remain for the next four years until the fifth halving.
Mow commented on this aspect of the halving, stating that any Bitcoin owned before this moment is now twice as hard for miners to procure for the market. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $63,913.
Mow also noted that Bitcoin continues to outperform gold, its physical rival traditionally considered a store of value. After the halving, Bitcoin's inflation rate will drop to 0.9%, while gold's will remain at 1.4%. As Anthony Pompliano stated in a recent CNBC interview, those who have held gold over the past five years have lost purchasing power, unlike Bitcoin holders.