The halving process is integral to Bitcoin’s monetary policy, designed to control the supply of new coins and ultimately cap the total supply at 21 million coins. Each halving event cuts the block reward given to miners—who validate and add transactions to the blockchain—by 50%. For instance, the block reward was 50 BTC initially, then reduced to 25 BTC in the first halving in 2012, 12.5 BTC in 2016, and currently stands at 6.25 BTC after the 2020 halving. Halving events have historically been associated with increased market valuation, due to reduced supply growth coupled with sustained demand.