# Bitcoin Halving 2028: Block Height, Expected Date and Full History

> The next Bitcoin halving happens at block 1,050,000, expected around spring 2028, when the block subsidy drops from 3.125 to 1.5625 BTC. How halvings work, every past halving, and what changes for supply.

Canonical page: [Bitcoin Halving 2028: Block Height, Expected Date and Full History](https://cryptobubbles.live/blog/bitcoin-halving-2028)
Published: October 7, 2026
Updated: October 7, 2026
Category: Education

## What is the Bitcoin halving?

The Bitcoin halving is a rule written into the Bitcoin protocol: every **210,000 blocks**, the number of new bitcoins paid to the miner of each block (the block subsidy) is cut in half. Nobody schedules it and nobody can move it. It happens automatically when the blockchain reaches the next multiple of 210,000 blocks.

Because a block is found roughly every 10 minutes, 210,000 blocks take about four years. That is why halvings are often described as a four-year cycle, even though the trigger is a block height, not a date.

## When is the next Bitcoin halving?

The next halving, the fifth, will happen at **block 1,050,000**. The block subsidy will fall from **3.125 BTC to 1.5625 BTC**.

It is **expected around spring 2028**. This is an estimate, not a fixed date: the exact moment depends on how fast blocks are actually found between now and then. When blocks arrive a little faster than every 10 minutes on average, the halving comes earlier; when they are slower, it comes later. The reliable way to follow it is the current block height on any Bitcoin block explorer.

## Bitcoin halving history

| Halving | Date | Block height | Block subsidy |
|---------|------|-------------:|---------------|
| Launch | January 2009 | 0 | 50 BTC |
| 1st halving | November 2012 | 210,000 | 50 to 25 BTC |
| 2nd halving | July 2016 | 420,000 | 25 to 12.5 BTC |
| 3rd halving | May 2020 | 630,000 | 12.5 to 6.25 BTC |
| 4th halving | April 2024 | 840,000 | 6.25 to 3.125 BTC |
| 5th halving | Expected around spring 2028 | 1,050,000 | 3.125 to 1.5625 BTC |

## Why the halving exists: the 21 million cap

Bitcoin has a hard cap of **21 million coins**. The halving is the mechanism that enforces it. Each 210,000-block period issues half as many new coins as the one before:

- Blocks 0 to 209,999 issued 10.5 million BTC (50 BTC per block)
- Blocks 210,000 to 419,999 issued 5.25 million BTC
- Blocks 420,000 to 629,999 issued 2.625 million BTC
- Blocks 630,000 to 839,999 issued 1.3125 million BTC
- Blocks 840,000 to 1,049,999 issue 656,250 BTC (3.125 BTC per block)

Added together, about 20.34 million BTC will have been issued when block 1,050,000 is reached. The remaining issuance keeps halving until the subsidy rounds down to zero, around the year 2140. Because the subsidy is counted in satoshis (one hundred-millionth of a bitcoin) and rounded down, the final total ends up just under 21 million.

## What changes at the 2028 halving

### New supply
At the 10-minute target, about 144 blocks are found per day. With a 3.125 BTC subsidy that is roughly 450 new BTC per day. After block 1,050,000 it becomes roughly 225 BTC per day.

### Miner revenue
Miners earn the block subsidy plus the transaction fees paid by users. The halving cuts the subsidy part in half overnight; fees are not affected. Over time, fees are designed to become a larger share of what keeps miners securing the network.

### Mining difficulty
The network adjusts mining difficulty every 2,016 blocks so that blocks keep arriving about every 10 minutes. If some miners switch off after a halving because they are no longer profitable, blocks slow down briefly and the next adjustment lowers the difficulty.

## What the halving does not do

- It does not change the 21 million cap. It is how the cap is reached.
- It does not affect bitcoins that already exist. Only newly issued coins are cut.
- It does not guarantee any price move. Past halvings happened in very different market conditions, and a small number of past cycles is not a basis for forecasts.

## How to follow the halving

1. **Watch the block height** - the halving triggers at block 1,050,000, whatever the calendar says.
2. **Use a block explorer** - it shows the current height and the blocks remaining.
3. **Check the market context** - the [Bitcoin page](https://cryptobubbles.live/coin/bitcoin) shows live price, market cap and supply data, and the [bubble map](https://cryptobubbles.live/bubble-map) shows how Bitcoin moves against the rest of the market.

## Summary

- A halving happens every 210,000 blocks, roughly every four years.
- Four halvings have happened: 2012, 2016, 2020 and April 2024.
- The next one is at block 1,050,000, expected around spring 2028, and cuts the subsidy from 3.125 to 1.5625 BTC.
- The schedule caps total supply just under 21 million BTC.

This guide explains how the protocol works. It is not financial advice.

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