Call it the bitcoin transaction block heard ‘round the world.

Shortly after 8 pm ET, the network underwent its fourth mining subsidy halving, with per-block rewards falling from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. 

The 840,000th block was a notable affair unto itself. It boasted 37.626 BTC in fees — a cool $2.4 million for ViaBTC, the Chinese mining pool that scored the winning block. 

According to the block explorer Mempool.space, someone paid roughly nearly $430,000 in fees in an apparent effort to get their transaction in the 840,000th block — a rather expensive way to become part of history, we’d reckon. 

As expected, Crypto Twitter, the social hub of the ecosystem, saw its share of celebratory posts. 

BBQ dinners, livestream chats and countless screenshots of block explorers and countdown timers peppered our streams post-halving. At the bitcoin bar PubKey in New York City, party-goers busted out the tuxedo ties.

We have to say: Kudos to those who opted the phrase “Bitcoin halfing,” which is somehow more eyebrow-raising than the (justifiably) oft-maligned “Bitcoin halvening.” 

Our toes were tapping here at Blockworks thanks to Jonathan Mann, otherwise known as Song A Day Man, who rang in the halving with a new song. 

The memes started rolling in quickly, too.  

The analysts were right, at least so far, the halving certainly seems to have been priced in. Those hoping for dramatic price moves were disappointed. It’s back to our regularly scheduled programming. 

Caitlin Long, founder and CEO of Custodia Bank, reminded her followers that what the event really means is that bitcoin’s scarcity has increased. 

And really…that’s it. We might be forgiven for saying that this particular halving was, well, normal, for lack of a better phrase. Maybe it’s a little bit of the bitcoin ETF effect. 

Anyway, we’ll catch you next time — for those looking to market their calendars for halving #5, Bitcoin’s next one is approximately 1,400 days away.

Source: Casey Wagner & Michael McSweeney – blockworks.co