Bitcoin
rose during Wednesday trading, after the largest digital
currency in terms of market cap underwent the third historical technical
adjustment (halving) since its emergence in the world in 2009.
This
amendment would reduce the rate of creation of new currencies by half by
reducing the rewards granted to those who mine the currency to 6.25 new
bitcoins per block from 12.5 bitcoins.
The
leading virtual currency has risen more than 20 percent since the beginning of
the year, reaching $10,000 last week, its highest level in nearly three months,
and traders said the prospect of a half-mining bonus boosted asset gains this
year.
The
Bitcoin has also previously undergone two reductions in the bonuses granted to
its miners, the first was in November 2012 and the second was in July 2016, where
the upcoming halving event take place in May 2024, with the process occurring
almost every four years.
Both
processes allowed the currency to rise by about 10,000 percent from late 2012
to 2014, and by about 2,500 percent from mid-2016 to December 2017, when the
price reached its highest point, which approached the $20,000 per bitcoin
barrier.
The
half-reduction in the digital currency source code was written by its creator,
Satoshi Nakamoto, to control inflation, and the metal's rewards will continue
to fall by half per 210,000 blocks until they reach zero in 2140, limiting the
total number of existing currency to 21 million.
Moreover,
the total cryptocurrency market capitalization increased from $242.7 billion on
Tuesday to $245.6 billion today, while the trading volume decreased from $160.4
billion to $131.3 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.
The Bitcoin advanced 2.68
percent to trade at $9,040, Ethereum saw a 0.16 percent surge to $191 and
Ripple ascended 0.86 percent to $0.20.