Halving Count
Teaches: Fixed Supply | 5 min | You need: Nothing!
What you will learn
Bitcoin has a fixed supply. The reward for mining keeps halving until there are exactly 21 million.
Steps
- 1
Start at 50. Say it out loud.
- 2
Now halve it: 25. Say it.
- 3
Keep halving: 12.5... 6.25... 3.125... 1.5625...
- 4
How many halvings until you get below 1? (Answer: 6)
- 5
How many until you get below 0.01? (Answer: about 13)
- 6
This is how Bitcoin works. The reward for mining starts at 50 and halves every 4 years. It will never reach 21 million and one.
What you learned
Bitcoin has a fixed supply of 21 million. No one can change this rule. Unlike paper money, no one can print more.
Play with others?
Take turns halving. First person says 50, next says 25, next says 12.5. First person to make a mistake is out!