Bitcoin supply clock
The next cut is counted in blocks, not vibes.
A block-height countdown, supply-schedule explainer, mining-cost scenario, and protocol timeline for readers who want the mechanism before the market narrative.
Next halving target
Live block-height estimate595days
18
hours
29
minutes
59
seconds
Estimated from block 964,209 to block 1,050,000 at a ten-minute average. The network decides the moment by height.
Current block
964,209
Live tip-height snapshot
Blocks remaining
85,791
Target: 1,050,000
Reward today
3.125 BTC
New subsidy per block
Reward after
1.5625 BTC
Expected at target height
Cycle progress
From the 2024 halving to the next one
59.15% of this 210,000-block interval
What the event changes
Issuance slows. The rest is a market question.
Every valid block currently creates a 3.125 BTC subsidy for its miner, before transaction fees. At block 1,050,000 the subsidy is scheduled to fall to 1.5625 BTC. That is a mechanical change to new supply, not a promise about price, demand, miner profitability, or market timing.
The target height is more precise than the date. Bitcoin targets a ten-minute average, but actual blocks arrive at uneven intervals; this page refreshes the source snapshot every five minutes while the visible clock ticks between source updates.
Calendar estimate
April 13, 2028
Projected from the latest height at a 600-second average block interval. It will move as the actual chain advances.
Mining economics · scenario tool
What does it cost to mine one Bitcoin?
There is no universal production price. This simple energy-only model uses the live network hashrate snapshot, an ASIC efficiency assumption, an electricity price, and the current 3.125 BTC subsidy. It excludes hardware, hosting, cooling, labour, financing, pool fees, curtailment, taxes, and transaction fees.
Model output
879 EH/s snapshotEnergy-only today
$168,672,156
per BTC at the chosen assumptions
Energy-only after cut
$337,344,312
scenario if hashrate and efficiency stayed constant
Current difficulty: 125,807,076,547,198. The model is an educational sensitivity check, not a live miner profitability calculator or a forecast.
Read Cambridge’s methodology ↗Long-range projection
The runway gets thinner, then the subsidy stops
These are block-schedule projections, not calendar promises or market forecasts.
| Approx. year | Target block | Subsidy | How to read it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2028 | 1,050,000 | 1.5625 BTC | Next scheduled cut |
| 2032 | 1,260,000 | 0.78125 BTC | Calendar is approximate |
| 2040 | 1,680,000 | 0.19531250 BTC | Supply reduction continues |
| 2060 | 2,730,000 | 0.00076294 BTC | Subsidy becomes very small |
| 2100 | 4,830,000 | ~1 satoshi | Rounding matters at this scale |
| ~2140 | 6,930,000 | 0 BTC | Last reduction in the schedule |
Bitcoin.org describes issuance as reaching zero around 2140. At the far end of the schedule, the integer-satoshi rule matters: once the subsidy becomes smaller than one satoshi, further halvings cannot create a fractional on-chain unit. Transaction fees, not newly issued coins, would then be the remaining miner reward component.
Protocol timeline
Bitcoin changed without changing its supply promise
2009
Genesis block
Bitcoin launched with a 50 BTC block subsidy and a proof-of-work chain.
2012
First halving
The issuance schedule moved from 50 BTC to 25 BTC per block.
2017
SegWit
Segregated Witness changed transaction accounting and helped solve transaction-malleability issues.
2021
Taproot
Schnorr signatures and Tapscript expanded Bitcoin’s scripting and privacy possibilities for compatible spends.
2024
Fourth halving
The subsidy moved from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC at block 840,000.
“Encryption” needs a precise answer
Bitcoin uses cryptography, not one single encryption system.
Bitcoin’s proof-of-work uses double SHA-256 hashing. Traditional address and spend paths use public-key signatures built with ECDSA over secp256k1; Taproot added Schnorr signatures and Tapscript paths. Hashing helps commit data and make mining difficult; signatures prove control of a private key. Neither is the same thing as encrypting the public ledger.
SHA-256d
Proof-of-work hash function.
ECDSA
Legacy signature scheme on secp256k1.
Schnorr
Signature option introduced with Taproot.
Watch and compare
Bitcoin halving explained
External video · YouTube
History
Five checkpoints in the subsidy schedule
| Event | Date | Block | New subsidy |
|---|---|---|---|
| First halving | 28 Nov 2012 | 210,000 | 25 BTC |
| Second halving | 9 Jul 2016 | 420,000 | 12.5 BTC |
| Third halving | 11 May 2020 | 630,000 | 6.25 BTC |
| Fourth halving | 20 Apr 2024 | 840,000 | 3.125 BTC |
| Next target | 2028 · estimated | 1,050,000 | 1.5625 BTC |
Why every 210,000 blocks?
The interval makes new issuance decline in predictable steps. It creates a transparent supply schedule without requiring a committee to announce a new reward each cycle.
What miners watch
A lower subsidy makes transaction fees, energy costs, hardware efficiency, and network difficulty more important to mining economics.
What readers should verify
Check the block height, the data timestamp, the source methodology, and the difference between a protocol fact and a market interpretation.