The fourth Bitcoin halving occurred at block 840,000. Its header records April 20, 2024, at 00:09:27 UTC. Accounts using time zones west of UTC may correctly describe it as an April 19 event. This archive uses the block’s recorded UTC date. Inspect the block.
A height, not a scheduled appointment
Bitcoin mainnet’s subsidy interval is 210,000 blocks. Four intervals put this boundary at 840,000. The protocol does not wait for a particular calendar date; the date depends on when the chain reaches the height. Mainnet parameters.
The height is the exact rule. A countdown expressed in days or minutes is an estimate.
What changed at the boundary
Under Bitcoin Core’s subsidy calculation, block 839,999 permits a subsidy of 6.25 BTC. At block 840,000, that allowance becomes 3.125 BTC. These are amounts of newly created bitcoin, not a percentage of what an existing holder owns. The subsidy calculation.
A miner’s permitted coinbase value also includes fees from transactions in its block. Fees are not halved by the subsidy rule. Therefore, the total coinbase value visible in a block explorer can exceed 3.125 BTC without violating the new limit. Reward validation.
What the block does not establish
The record tells us the height, timestamp, and transactions. It does not establish that a later price movement was caused by the halving, or that another halving must produce a particular market outcome.
Compare the first halving, then use the subsidy explorer to inspect the rule across eras, including its final whole-satoshi reductions.