Bitcoin SV successfully completed its first block reward halving

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Updated on Jun 15, 2024

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Bitcoin SV just completed its halving, only two days after Bitcoin Cash.
Both coins have seen a slight price drop after the events, although BCH also saw a massive drop in hash power.
With the Bitcoin network receiving most of the miners who left BCH, the coin's own halving date moved closer.

Bitcoin SV (BSV) recently completed its block reward halving — its first since the coin’s creation in 2018. As many likely remember, Bitcoin SV came to be as a fork of Bitcoin Cash (BCH). The coin forked off in mid-November 2018. After a brief hash war that had a significant impact on the crypto industry, it went its own way.

Now, it reduced its block rewards from 12,5 BSV per block to 6.5 BSV per block. The same happened to BCH itself, and both coins went through their own halvings only a little over a month before BTC itself.

BCH miners leaving the network; will BSV miners do the same?

BSV halving took place at around 01:30 am UTC, while BCH halving took place on April 8th. The coins’ prices also reacted similarly to the event.

Bitcoin Cash saw a price drop from $278 to $256. Meanwhile, Bitcoin SV dropped to $210, from $225. Both coins also have the same total supply as BTC itself — 21 million units.

Of course, block reward halving is generally seen as a good thing for the blockchain. It reduces the inflow of new coins into circulation, which should, in theory, increase their value.

However, it will likely be some time before this happens. Meanwhile, with mining being as expensive as it is, many are not willing or able to wait to see if the price will grow. This is why a lot of miners left the BCH network, causing its hash rate to crash by 80% in only two days.

BTC halving date moves closer due to hash power surge

It is currently unknown whether BSV will see the same development. However, the main concern right now is whether or not the same will happen to Bitcoin after its own halving. A lot of the miners who left the BCH network seemingly migrated to BTC, which increased its hash power.

As a result, the coin is now mining blocks slightly faster, which was enough to move its halving date. Originally, the halving date was May 17th, but right now, it seems to have moved to May 11th.

While Bitcoin’s blockchain will modify its difficulty rate in due time, the halving will likely take place earlier than expected.