The time moves fast, and we’re only two months away from the third Bitcoin halving. Here is the counter at the moment I write (03.03.3030, at 12.11, UTC+02:00).
65 DAYS
9 HOURS
50 MINUTES
14 SECONDS
What is Halving?
In the crypto space, the term halving refers to a process that reduces the issuance rate of new coins, or the periodical reduction of the block subsidy provided to miners. The halving ensures that a crypto asset will follow the issuance rate until its maximum supply is finally reached.
Regarding Bitcoin halving, the news coins are generated continuously as part of the block reward (made up of the block subsidy transaction fees). The Bitcoin protocol cuts the bitcoin block reward in half and every time a Bitcoin halving occurs, miners receive 50% fewer BTC for verifying transactions. The halving is what ensures that the block will decrease by 50% every 210,000 blocks (every 4 years).
At the genesis block, Bitcoin’s block was initially set as 50 BTC; then, it was reduced to 25 BTC in 2012, and to 12.5 BTC in 2016. The following halving is expected to happen around May 2020, reducing the block subsidy to 6.25 BTC. At the last halving, number 32, bitcoin mining will stops and no more Bitcoin coins will be created as, at this point, the maximum supply of 21 million BTC will be reached.
The halving is an important part of the Bitcoin protocol and, since the code is open source so that anyone is able to view it.
Along with Bitcoin (BTC), there are four more crypto assets that are fast approaching their block halving:
- Ethereum Classic (ETC) - (March/05/2020)
- Bitcoin Cash (BCH) - Around (April/2020)
- Dash (DASH) - Around (May/2020)
- Zcash (ZEC) - Around Oct/2020)
Some of the exchanges offer easy crypto assets Convert and Swap functions, so that you can instantly convert your crypto to another crypto, as you wish.
Among the exchanges I know and use, which have this fast and easy function, convert and swap, are: Binance, Coinbase, Jaxx Liberty, and IDEX. Decentralized exchanges with swap function are: Blockchain.com, Stellarx, Liquality, AirSwap, Atomex, etc.
Why Swap or Convert?
On some crypto exchanges, you can use the Convert function to simply swap your existing crypto assets to a different crypto asset of your choice. The conversions are instant and based on the market price at the time of conversion.
Swap attribute of an exchange allows users to quickly and easily exchange one crypto asset for another, without having to use fiat currency as an intermediary and without ever leaving their wallet.
Main Features:
- Easy to use: Input the amount and click convert, simple!
- Fast: conversions are instant!
- Low fees, on some exchanges.
Risk warning:
Cryptocurrency trading is subject to high market risk. Please make your trades cautiously. DYOR before joining any of these exchanges, even if some are DEX, the creators still have control on them! Also, be aware there are some fees to pay, and some may not be very low!
References:
https://support.blockchain.com/hc/en-us/articles/360026011331-What-is-Swap-
https://www.binance.vision/halving
https://jaxx.io/about
https://help.coinbase.com/en/coinbase/trading-and-funding/cryptocurrency-trading-pairs/convert-cryptocurrency-faq.html
