0 sats \ 0 replies \ @piecover 2 Feb \ on: Where the 4 Year Cycle Comes From bitcoin
If you want you can listen to it here too
https://translate.google.com/?sl=auto&tl=en&text=Every%204%20years%2C%20there%27s%20a%20halving%2C%20and%20there%20has%20been%20endless%20speculation%20about%20this%20design%20decision%20by%20Satoshi.%20Is%20it%20to%20coincide%20with%20presidential%20election%20years%20in%20the%20US%3F%20Or%20the%20Olympics%3F%20Why%204%20years%3F%20I%27m%20not%20going%20to%20speculate%20on%20geo-political%20reasons%20here%2C%20but%20I%20will%20show%20you%20why%20there%27s%20a%204-year%20cycle%20and%20how%20it%27s%20related%20to%20the%2021%20million%20Bitcoin%20limit.%0AIf%20you%27ve%20watched%20rent%2C%20there%27s%20a%20famous%20song%20from%20it%20called%20525%2C600%20Minutes.%20That%27s%20how%20many%20minutes%20are%20in%20a%20365-day%20year.%20And%20if%20you%20multiply%20that%20by%204%2C%20you%20get%202%2C102%2C400%20minutes.%20Of%20course%2C%20there%27s%20a%20leap%20day%20to%20consider%20and%20that%20gives%20us%20another%2060%20*%2024%20%3D%201440%20minutes%20for%20a%20grand%20total%20of%202%2C103840%20minutes.%0AWhat%27s%20remarkable%20about%20this%20number%20is%20how%20close%20it%20is%20to%202.1M.%20And%20indeed%2C%20if%20every%20block%20is%2010%20minutes%2C%202.1M%20minutes%20turns%20out%20to%20be%20210%2C000%20blocks.%20And%20that%27s%20the%20real%20number%20for%20the%20halving%20cycle%2C%20not%20a%20specific%204%20years.%20And%20indeed%2C%204%20years%20is%20slightly%20longer%2C%20by%203840%20minutes%20or%2064%20hours%20or%202%202%2F3%20days.%20The%204%20year%20cycle%20is%20really%20a%20~3.96%20year%20cycle%2C%20strictly%20speaking%20because%20of%20this%20extra%20overhang.%0ABlock%20840%2C000%20will%20start%20the%205th%20epoch%20of%20Bitcoin%20(looking%20to%20be%20around%20April%2020%2C%202024)%2C%20which%20will%20have%203.125%20BTC%20as%20a%20block%20reward.%20And%20that%20block%20reward%20halving%20every%20210%2C000%20blocks%20is%20how%20we%20get%20a%2021M%20limit.%0AThe%20first%20epoch%27s%20block%20reward%20was%2050%2C%20the%20next%2025%2C%20the%20next%2012.5%20and%20so%20on.%20If%20you%20add%20these%20block%20rewards%20up%2C%20that%27s%20100%20*%20210%2C000%20or%2021M.%20But%20since%20we%20represent%20these%20with%200%27s%20and%201%27s%20and%20don%27t%20have%20infinite%20precision%2C%20the%20actual%20complete%20amount%20is%20slightly%20less%20at%2020%2C999%2C999.9769%20BTC.%0A&op=translate