Cryptography in Blockchain Technology: A Beginner’s Guide
Get comprehensive knowledge of the basics of cryptography including algorithm types, cybersecurity uses, management best practices and common attacks.
10 Stock Market Books Every Serious Investor Must Read
The 10 stock market books on this list are not just popular, they are the books that have consistently shaped the thinking of the world’s most successful investors across multiple market cycles. Benjamin Graham’s disciples went on to build Berkshire Hathaway. John Bogle’s index fund thesis is now a $15 trillion industry. Morgan Housel’s work on investor psychology has become required reading in finance programmes globally. These are not opinions on books; they are accounts of frameworks that have demonstrably worked. If you trade equities, dabble in crypto, or manage a business treasury, knowing how market actually behave and why human psychology so reliable destroys returns. Let us get into it. Best Stock Market Books to Read in 2026 Read Also: 15 Must-See Stock Market Movies about the Wall Street 1. The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham Widely regarded as the bible of value investing, this is the book Warren Buffett has credited with shaping his entire investment philosophy. Graham introduces the concept of intrinsic value, what a business is actually worth based on its fundamentals and argues that the stock market is a voting machine in the short run and a weighing machine in the long run. The updated edition includes commentary from Wall Street Journal columnist Jason Zweig, which bridges Graham’s original 1940s framework with modern market realities including index ETFs, earnings manipulation, and algorithmic trading. The chapters on Mr Market, Graham’s allegory for the irrational mood swings of the broader market remain among the most practically useful pages ever written about investing psychology Core lesson: Buy assets at a discount to their intrinsic value and never let short-term price swings dictate your long-term decisions. 2. A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton G. Malkiel Now in its thirteenth edition, this book is widely credited with fuelling the modern passive investing revolution and the explosive growth of index ETFs. Malkiel’s central argument that consistently beating the market through stock-picking is largely impossible for most investors — has aged remarkably well. As of 2025, over 60% of US equity assets are held in passive index strategies, validating his thesis at a scale he could not have imagined when he first published it in 1973. The book covers technical analysis, fundamental analysis, behavioural finance, and portfolio construction in a conversational style that is accessible without being simplistic. It is one of the few investing books that both academics and practitioners respect equally. Core lesson: Most active fund managers fail to beat a low-cost index fund over the long term. Keep costs low, diversify broadly, and stay invested. The book advocates for a passive investment strategy, such as index fund investing, which is particularly beneficial for novice investors. Malkiel’s clear explanations make complex financial concepts accessible to beginners. 3. One Up On Wall Street by Peter Lynch Peter Lynch managed the Fidelity Magellan Fund from 1977 to 1990, achieving a 29.2% annualised return one of the greatest long-term records in fund management history. Regarded as a classic by trading professionals, this book discusses the essential preparation required before investing and introduces Lynch’s unique approach to stock selection. In this book, he argues that ordinary investors have a genuine structural advantage over professional analysts because they encounter promising companies in their everyday lives long before Wall Street pays attention. Lynch introduces a practical categorisation system for stocks: slow growers, stalwarts, fast growers, cyclicals, asset plays, and turnarounds. Knowing which category a company belongs to tells you how to hold it and when to sell. The framework is simple enough for beginners to apply immediately and deep enough that experienced investors return to it regularly. Core lesson: Invest in what you know. Your personal experience as a consumer is a legitimate research edge. His approachable writing style and practical advice provide investors with clear guidance on distinguishing between promising opportunities and poor investments by analyzing a company’s financial records. 4. The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John C. Bogle John Bogle founded Vanguard and invented the retail index fund. He spent the rest of his career making the case that the simplest investing strategy buying the entire stock market through a low-cost index fund and holding it forever, is also the most effective one. Warren Buffett recommended this book in his 2014 shareholder letter, suggesting most investors would be better served by reading it than by taking advice from financial advisers. Bogle demonstrates mathematically that the compounding effect of fund fees even seemingly small ones of 1 to 2% annually destroys enormous amounts of long-term wealth. At a time when retail trading apps make it trivially easy to over-trade and accumulate costs, this book’s message is more relevant in 2025 than when it was written. Core lesson: Minimise costs, own the market, and let compound growth work over time. Do not let fees eat your returns. Read Also: How to Read Stock Market Charts: A Complete Guide 5. The Psychology of Money Morgan Housel · 2020 This is the most widely recommended investing book of the past five years, and for good reason. Unlike most stock market books that focus on valuation models or chart patterns, Housel focuses entirely on the behavioural and psychological forces that determine whether an investor succeeds or fails. He argues convincingly that doing well with money has little to do with intelligence and everything to do with behaviour specifically, your ability to remain patient when others panic. The chapters on tail risk, long-term compounding, and the difference between being wealthy and appearing wealthy are particularly powerful. Core lesson: Your behaviour matters more than your intelligence. Patience and emotional discipline compound faster than any stock-picking edge. 6. Market Wizards Jack D. Schwager · 1989, updated 2012 Schwager spent years interviewing the most successful traders of the 1980s including Jim Rogers, Paul Tudor Jones, Ed Seykota, and Michael Steinhardt and compiled their conversations into what remains one of the most revelatory books ever written about the craft of trading. What makes it remarkable is the diversity
How to do On-Chain Analysis and Why It Gives You a Real Edge?
Price charts tell you what happened. On-chain analysis tells you why. When Bitcoin broke above $100,000 in May 2025 and exchange reserves simultaneously hit a two-year low below 2.5 million BTC down from 3.4 million in 2022, that was not a coincidence you could read in a candlestick. It was a supply squeeze written directly onto the blockchain, visible to anyone who knew where to look. Our well researched guide covers the fundamentals, the metrics that matter most, how to build a practical workflow, and which tools deliver the sharpest signals for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and beyond. This article will explore the fundamentals of on-chain analysis, its importance, and how it can be used to predict market movements. Read also: How to read stock market charts? crypto market analysis. What Is On-Chain Analysis and How Does It Differ From Technical Analysis? Traditional technical analysis uses price, volume, and derived indicators, all of which are outputs of trading activity on exchanges. On-chain analysis goes one level deeper, reading the raw data that the blockchain itself records. According to Grand View Research, by 2030, the global market is projected to experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.5%. Every confirmed transaction, every wallet address that sends or receives funds, every coin that moves from cold storage to an exchange, all of it is permanently and publicly inscribed on the ledger. This distinction matters. A price chart can be manipulated through wash trading or coordinated buy pressure. The underlying blockchain cannot. When a long-dormant wallet moves 10,000 Bitcoin to an exchange address, that fact is visible to every on-chain analyst simultaneously and carries information that no chart indicator can replicate specifically, that a significant holder may be preparing to sell. Read Also: Top Cryptocurrency Technical Analysis Platforms: A Guide What Are the Most Important On-Chain Metrics to Understand There are hundreds of on-chain metrics available across modern analytics platforms. The following are the ones that have demonstrated the strongest predictive value and are most widely used by institutional analysts and serious traders. How Has the ETF Era Changed On-Chain Signals? This is one of the most important nuances for 2025 and 2026: traditional on-chain metrics are less reliable in isolation than they were before the launch of Bitcoin spot ETFs. When investors buy IBIT through a brokerage account, no on-chain transaction occurs, the ETF custodian holds Bitcoin, but secondary-market ETF trades leave no blockchain footprint. BlackRock’s IBIT alone attracted $24.9 billion in 2025 inflows without generating corresponding on-chain activity. This means that daily transaction counts have fallen from nearly 500,000 in December 2023 to around 250,000 in 2025, even as Bitcoin reached new all-time highs. The NVT ratio has become less reliable for the same reason. Analysts now combine on-chain metrics with ETF flow data, open interest in futures markets, and macro liquidity indicators to build a complete picture. A 2025 study in Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence found that combining on-chain metrics with technical indicators using CNN-LSTM machine learning models achieved 82.44% directional accuracy, significantly above the 50% baseline of discretionary retail trading. How Do You Actually Do On-Chain Analysis? A Step-by-Step Workflow The following workflow is how professional analysts approach a market read using blockchain data, adapted for traders at any experience level. 1. Establish the Macro Regime Using MVRV and NUPL Your first job is to determine where you are in the market cycle. Open Glassnode or Bitcoin Magazine Pro and check the MVRV Z-Score and NUPL readings. An MVRV below 1.0 with NUPL in negative territory is the classic accumulation signal. An MVRV above 3.0 with NUPL approaching “euphoria” is a distribution warning. This one step alone determines your directional bias, long, cautiously long, or risk-off. 2. Check Exchange Reserve Trends for Supply Signals Navigate to CryptoQuant’s exchange reserve chart for Bitcoin. If reserves have been declining over weeks and months, supply available for sale is shrinking. In combination with rising demand from ETF inflows, this creates the conditions for a supply squeeze. If reserves are rising sharply, investigate which exchanges are receiving the inflows and whether it correlates with institutional repositioning or retail selling pressure. 3. Read SOPR for Short-Term Holder Behaviour SOPR tells you the temperature of the market right now. When SOPR dips below 1.0 in a bull market and then recovers above it, that is a classic capitulation-and-recovery pattern often a short-term buying opportunity. When SOPR sustains elevated readings above 1.05 for weeks, it signals widespread profit-taking, which can precede local tops. Watch the Short-Term Holder SOPR specifically, as it filters out long-dormant coins. 4. Track Whale and Large Wallet Movements Use Nansen or Arkham Intelligence to monitor large wallet addresses. When a wallet that has not moved in several years suddenly transfers funds to an exchange address, that is a distribution signal worth taking seriously. Conversely, when known institutional accumulation addresses receive significant inflows, that is a demand signal. Tracking the Ethereum Foundation’s wallet, for example, has historically given traders advance warning of local price tops on ETH. 5. Layer In ETF Flow and Derivatives Data Since 2024, on-chain analysis without ETF context is incomplete. Check Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF net flow data daily platforms like The Block and BitMEX Research publish this. Rising open interest in futures markets combined with bullish on-chain signals is a high-confidence confluence setup. Open interest growth of 50 to 90% has historically preceded major volatility spikes, including the October 2024 and April 2025 moves. 6. Set Alerts and Build a Dashboard One-off analysis is less valuable than a consistent monitoring system. Most platforms including Glassnode and CryptoQuant allow custom alerts for when specific metrics cross thresholds for example, when MVRV Z-Score enters the historical caution zone above 6.0. Building a personal dashboard with your five to eight most important metrics and checking it on a weekly cadence is how serious analysts stay ahead of market moves. The Importance of On-Chain Analysis On-chain analysis offers several advantages over traditional methods of market analysis, particularly when it comes to
The 10 Best Bitcoin ETFs to Buy Right Now
The approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by the US Securities and Exchange Commission in January 2024 was a watershed moment for the cryptocurrency industry. For the first time, investors in the United States could gain regulated, brokerage-account exposure to Bitcoin’s price movements without ever setting up a crypto exchange account, managing private keys, or navigating custodial risk. The door opened simultaneously for retail investors, registered investment advisors, pension funds, endowments, and institutional asset managers, all of whom had been waiting years for a compliant on-ramp. The results exceeded even the most optimistic projections. Collectively, spot Bitcoin ETFs accumulated over $114 billion in total assets by the end of 2025, representing one of the most successful product launches in ETF history. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust became the fastest-growing ETF ever launched, briefly crossing $100 billion in assets under management on its own. Major institutions, including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo now offer Bitcoin ETFs to qualified clients. Vanguard, a longtime crypto holdout, opened its brokerage platform to Bitcoin ETF trading for its 50 million customers in late 2025. Yet with more than a dozen Bitcoin ETFs now available and more than 120 cryptocurrency-focused ETFs trading across US markets as of early 2026, choosing the right one is not as simple as it might appear. While all spot Bitcoin ETFs hold the same underlying asset and track its price, they differ meaningfully in expense ratios, custody arrangements, trading liquidity, options availability, and the type of investor they are best suited for. This guide reviews the 10 best Bitcoin ETFs, covering both spot and futures-based options, with fully updated 2025 data on AUM, expense ratios, custody, and the investor profile each fund serves best. Key Takeaways What Is a Bitcoin ETF? An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a type of investment fund that trades on a stock exchange like a share. It pools investor capital to buy a basket of underlying assets and issues shares that represent proportional ownership of that basket. ETFs offer the diversification of a fund combined with the intraday tradability of a stock. A Bitcoin ETF applies this structure to Bitcoin exposure. Instead of buying and holding Bitcoin directly on a crypto exchange, an investor can buy shares of a Bitcoin ETF through any brokerage account, including an IRA or 401(k), using the same interface they use to buy Apple stock or an S&P 500 index fund. The ETF holds Bitcoin (or Bitcoin futures contracts) on the investor’s behalf and issues shares whose price tracks Bitcoin’s performance, minus the fund’s expense ratio. This structure solves several challenges that have historically prevented institutional and mainstream retail investors from accessing Bitcoin. There is no need to set up a crypto exchange account, complete crypto-specific KYC, manage a digital wallet, secure private keys, or navigate the tax complexity of on-chain transactions. The ETF handles all of that, and shares can be held in existing brokerage and retirement accounts. Spot Bitcoin ETFs vs Futures-Based Bitcoin ETFs The single most important distinction to understand before evaluating any Bitcoin ETF is whether it is a spot fund or a futures-based fund. These are fundamentally different products despite both being labeled “Bitcoin ETFs.” Feature Spot Bitcoin ETF Futures-Based Bitcoin ETF What it holds Actual Bitcoin in secure custody Bitcoin futures contracts traded on CME Price tracking 0.15% to 1.50% (most clusters at 0.20% to 0.25%) Can diverge significantly from spot price over time due to rolling costs Typical expense ratio 0.15% to 1.50% (most cluster at 0.20% to 0.25%) 0.95% or higher Rolling costs None Ongoing cost of rolling expiring futures contracts into new ones (can be significant) Best for Long-term investors seeking pure Bitcoin exposure Short-term tactical positions, hedging, inverse exposure Available since January 2024 (US) October 2021 (US) Examples IBIT, FBTC, BITB, ARKB, BTC, GBTC, HODL BITO, XBTF For the vast majority of investors seeking Bitcoin exposure over a medium to long time horizon, spot Bitcoin ETFs are the superior choice. They eliminate the structural performance drag inherent in futures rolling and provide cleaner, more direct price tracking. Futures-based ETFs serve a legitimate purpose for sophisticated traders who want leveraged exposure, inverse bets, or who were investing before spot ETFs became available, but for a buy-and-hold investor, the case for futures is weak. The fee drag matters more than it looks. The difference between a 0.15% and a 0.95% expense ratio might seem trivial on a single year’s return. On a $50,000 investment over 10 years at Bitcoin’s historical average return rate, the compounding difference in fees can amount to thousands of dollars in reduced wealth. In a category where every fund holds the same underlying asset, fees are the primary driver of long-term performance differences. How to Choose the Best Bitcoin ETF for Your Situation Before reviewing individual funds, it helps to understand the key selection criteria that differentiate them. Expense Ratio The expense ratio is the annual fee charged as a percentage of assets under management, deducted automatically from the fund’s performance. Because all spot Bitcoin ETFs hold the same asset, a lower expense ratio almost always means better long-term returns, all else being equal. Current spot Bitcoin ETF expense ratios range from 0.15% (Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust) to 1.50% (GBTC). Most of the major new funds cluster between 0.20% and 0.25%. Assets Under Management (AUM) AUM reflects how much investor capital the fund has attracted. Higher AUM generally indicates greater investor confidence, but more importantly it drives liquidity. A fund with $70 billion in AUM will have dramatically tighter bid-ask spreads, deeper options markets, and more efficient execution than one with $500 million. For active traders, AUM is as important as expense ratio. For long-term passive investors who buy and hold, it matters less. Liquidity and Trading Volume Daily trading volume determines bid-ask spreads. A wide spread means you pay more to enter and receive less when you exit, eroding returns even if the expense ratio is low. IBIT’s median bid-ask spread is 0.02%, the tightest in
Best Blockchain Stocks to Buy in 2026
Investing in blockchain technology is no longer just about Bitcoin or Ethereum. The global blockchain market is projected to reach $94 billion by 2027 from approximately $20 billion in 2024. In 2025, real results from publicly listed blockchain companies revealed both the opportunity and the risk: Coinbase generated $7.2 billion in annual revenue, MARA Holdings held 52,850 BTC on its balance sheet, and the sector delivered extraordinary returns for investors who chose the right companies at the right time. Key Takeaways Why Invest in Blockchain Stocks in 2026? Investing in blockchain technology is no longer just about Bitcoin or Ethereum. According to market research, the global blockchain market is expected to grow from approximately $20 billion in 2024 to $94 billion by 2027, representing a compound annual growth rate exceeding 60%. This growth reflects genuine enterprise adoption across financial services, supply chain management, healthcare, and digital payments. Blockchain stocks offer a way to gain exposure to this growing ecosystem through regulated stock market investments. The 2025 cycle produced meaningful financial results from publicly listed blockchain companies, moving the sector beyond narratives and into documented performance metrics. The key challenge for investors in 2026 remains identifying which companies are executing on genuine business models versus those riding cryptocurrency price momentum without underlying operational substance. Read Also: Crypto vs Stocks: Which Investment Is Right for You? Coinbase Global Inc. (COIN) 2025 Financial Performance Coinbase delivered strong 2025 results with total annual revenue of $7.2 billion, up 9% year-over-year. Trading volume surged 156% year-over-year to a record $5.2 trillion, and the company doubled its crypto trading volume market share. Subscription and services revenue reached $2.8 billion, up 23% year-over-year and 5.5 times higher than the prior cycle peak in 2021. The company achieved its twelfth consecutive quarter of adjusted EBITDA profitability with full-year adjusted EBITDA of $2.81 billion. Coinbase now has 12 products generating over $100 million in annualised revenue, an all-time high reflecting meaningful business diversification. The company maintained a strong cash position of $11.3 billion at year-end. Q4 2025 was more challenging: revenue declined 5% quarter-over-quarter to $1.78 billion as crypto market activity slowed following Bitcoin’s late-2025 correction, and the company reported a GAAP net loss of $667 million driven by $718 million in unrealised crypto investment losses. Adjusted net income for Q4 remained positive at $178 million, confirming the core business continued to generate value despite market headwinds. Key Strengths Coinbase’s strategic pivot to an “Everything Exchange” vision, where it aims to be the single platform for trading every asset class, represents a significant long-term growth opportunity. Its acquisition of Deribit, the world’s largest crypto options exchange, in 2025 expanded its derivatives capabilities materially. The Base Layer-2 blockchain built by Coinbase continued to grow as a developer ecosystem. Its regulatory relationship with US authorities, while historically contentious, improved significantly in 2025 following the SEC’s withdrawal of its enforcement action against Coinbase. Growth Prospects for 2026 For Q1 2026, Coinbase guided subscription and services revenue between $550 and $630 million. The company’s international expansion, growing institutional custody business, and stablecoin infrastructure (average USDC balances held in Coinbase products reached $17.8 billion in 2025) provide structural revenue streams less dependent on trading volume cycles. With nearly one million paid Coinbase One subscribers, a three-fold increase in three years, the subscription business continues to diversify Coinbase’s revenue base. MARA Holdings Inc. (MARA) MARA Holdings Inc.NASDAQ: MARABitcoin MiningDirect Bitcoin Exposure MARA Holdings (formerly Marathon Digital Holdings) is one of the largest publicly listed Bitcoin mining companies, operating large-scale mining infrastructure globally. The company has pivoted toward positioning itself as a vertically integrated digital energy and infrastructure company, expanding beyond pure Bitcoin mining into AI infrastructure and power management solutions. 2025 Financial Performance MARA delivered record results across 2025. Q2 2025 revenue increased 64% year-over-year to $238.5 million, and Q2 net income reached $808.2 million, a dramatic improvement from a $199.7 million loss in Q2 2024. The company’s energized hash rate grew 82% year-over-year to 57.4 EH/s in Q2 2025 and expanded further to 60.4 EH/s in Q3 2025 (up 64% year-over-year). Bitcoin holdings grew 170% year-over-year from 18,488 BTC to 49,951 BTC by Q2 2025, and reached approximately 52,850 BTC by Q3 2025, making MARA the second-largest corporate Bitcoin holder globally. Fleet efficiency improved to 18.3 J/TH, a 26% year-over-year enhancement. The company’s energy cost per Bitcoin reached $33,735, among the lowest in the sector. Key Strengths MARA’s scale, operational efficiency, and Bitcoin treasury strategy provide multiple simultaneous levers for value creation. Its HODL strategy means Bitcoin price appreciation benefits the balance sheet directly. Nearly 60% of operations now use renewable energy, addressing the environmental criticism that has historically weighed on mining company valuations. The company raised $950 million in new capital in 2025 to fund expansion and Bitcoin purchases, reinforcing its long-term strategic commitment to growing its position as a digital infrastructure company. Growth Prospects for 2026 MARA is pursuing several initiatives to diversify beyond core Bitcoin mining. Its expansion into AI infrastructure, offering data centre services for AI model training, aligns with the broader trend of mining companies repurposing their energy and compute infrastructure for higher-margin AI and HPC workloads. Q4 2025 results are scheduled for release in February 2026, with investors focused on hash rate targets, cost per Bitcoin, and BTC holdings. HIVE Digital Technologies Ltd. (HIVE) 2025 Financial Performance HIVE reported Q3 FY2025 (calendar Q4 2024) total revenue of $29.2 million, comprising $26.7 million from digital currency mining and $2.5 million from HPC services. The company’s Bitcoin mining hash rate grew 7.1% from 5.6 EH/s to 6.0 EH/s during that quarter, driven by upgrades to its Bitcoin mining fleet with Avalon machines from Canaan Inc. HIVE’s Paraguay expansion, a 100 MW project targeting 6.5 EH/s of additional capacity from Bitmain S21+ hydro-cooled ASICs, was on track for energisation in mid-2025, targeting an interim hash rate of 13 EH/s. Key Strengths HIVE’s renewable energy commitment is a genuine competitive differentiator as ESG-focused institutional investors increasingly screen for environmental practices in
Bitcoin Halving: A Complete Guide for Crypto Investors
Bitcoin halving is one of the most anticipated events in the entire cryptocurrency calendar, a pre-programmed moment when the reward miners earn for adding new blocks to the blockchain is cut in half, permanently tightening Bitcoin’s supply The most recent halving happened on April 19, 2024, and the next one is already on the horizon for April 2028. If you want to understand why Bitcoin is called digital gold, the halving mechanism is where that story begins. Related Reads: How to read stock market charts? Best strategies to protect yourself against crypto scams. Key Takeaways: What Exactly Is Bitcoin Halving and How Does It Work? At its core, Bitcoin is governed by a strict set of rules baked directly into its open-source code — and the halving is one of the most important of those rules. Roughly every four years, or more precisely every 210,000 blocks mined, the reward granted to Bitcoin miners for validating transactions is automatically slashed by 50%. When Bitcoin launched in January 2009, miners received 50 BTC for every block they added to the blockchain. That seems generous, but Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator, built this decreasing supply schedule deliberately, mimicking the scarcity of finite commodities like gold. The total supply of Bitcoin will never exceed 21 million coins, and the halving is the mechanism that enforces that promise. How Does the Bitcoin Mining Reward System Actually Work? Miners compete to solve complex cryptographic puzzles using powerful hardware. The first miner to solve the puzzle earns the right to add the next block of transactions to the Bitcoin blockchain and collects the block reward, a fixed number of newly created BTC, plus any transaction fees attached to that block. This is known as proof-of-work (PoW) consensus. The halving reduces the newly created BTC component by 50%, making the new supply progressively scarcer over time. Recommended reading: Bitcoin Halving Chart 2024: Key Highlight and Insights What Is the Complete History of Every Bitcoin Halving Event? Four Bitcoin halvings have taken place since the genesis block was mined in January 2009. Each one has reshaped miner economics, market sentiment, and historically Bitcoin’s long-term price trajectory. What Happened After the First Halving in 2012? The 2012 halving is often called the proof of concept halving. Bitcoin was trading at just $12 when block 210,000 was mined by SlushPool. Many early adopters barely noticed. But within a year, the price had surged past $1,100, a gain of over 9,000%. The crypto market was tiny and illiquid then, so enormous percentage swings were common, but the directional principle was established: reduce supply, and prices can climb dramatically. What Happened After the 2016 Halving? The second halving at block 420,000 in July 2016 was more widely anticipated. Bitcoin was already a recognized asset, and exchanges like Coinbase, Bitstamp, and Kraken were operational. The immediate post-halving reaction was muted, but the bull run that followed was not. By December 2017, Bitcoin had reached nearly $20,000, a gain of over 2,100% from the halving price. This cycle cemented the halving as a major market-moving event in the public consciousness. The immediate post-halving reaction was muted, but the bull run that followed was not. By December 2017, Bitcoin had reached nearly $20,000, a gain of over 2,100% from the halving price. This cycle cemented the halving as a major market-moving event in the public consciousness. What Happened After the 2020 Halving? The third halving in May 2020 took place against the backdrop of a global pandemic. Bitcoin initially dipped before recovering, and then spent the remainder of 2020 and 2021 in one of the most powerful bull runs in crypto history. By November 2021, Bitcoin hit an all-time high of approximately $69,000 over 700% above the halving price of around $8,600. This cycle introduced significant institutional participation, with companies like MicroStrategy and Tesla adding Bitcoin to their balance sheets. What Actually Happened With the 2024 Bitcoin Halving? The fourth halving occurred on April 19, 2024, at block height 840,000. It was the most-watched halving in Bitcoin’s history, partly because of a major structural difference in the market: the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States just months earlier in January 2024. Bitcoin was trading at approximately $63,762 on the halving day. The immediate price reaction was relatively calm compared to past cycles, which some analysts attributed to the fact that institutional investors had already been pricing in the event for months. However, the broader cycle was anything but quiet. What Should Investors Expect From the Next Bitcoin Halving in 2028? The fifth Bitcoin halving is projected to occur around April 2028 at block height 1,050,000. When it arrives, the block reward will drop from 3.125 BTC to just 1.5625 BTC per block. By that point, less than 5% of the total Bitcoin supply will remain to be mined, and over 98% of all Bitcoin will have already been created. Several structural shifts will define the 2028 cycle differently from anything that came before. Bitcoin ETFs, which did not exist in the 2020 cycle, will have been operating for four full years by 2028, potentially with far deeper AUM and more sophisticated institutional participation. Government-level discussions around Bitcoin strategic reserves, with proposals already active in the United States as of 2025, could introduce sovereign-level demand that dwarfs anything the market has previously processed. And Bitcoin’s growing status as a recognized alternative asset class means the next halving will take place in a very different macro environment than any previous one. Why Does Bitcoin Halving Create Scarcity and Why Does That Matter? programmatic scarcity. Unlike fiat currencies, which central banks can print in unlimited quantities, Bitcoin’s total supply is mathematically capped at 21 million coins. As of 2025, over 93% of all Bitcoin has already been mined, leaving fewer than 1.5 million BTC left to be created, and it will take until approximately 2140 to mine those remaining coins due to the halving schedule. Each halving reduces the annual inflation rate of Bitcoin. After