<blockquote>
  <p>So were these 'premature' halvings due to the positive rate of change of hash rate?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Bitcoin is designed to keep the block time at 10 minutes. The difficulty increases/decreases as the mining hash rate increases/decreases. At this 10 minute rate the the halving event comes every 4 years. As miners started using ASIC chips to mine blocks, the average time came down and that led to slightly lower halving time.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>could a hash rate collapse lead to a delayed halving event (i.e. adding the current 210,000 blocks takes longer than 4 years)?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>If hash rate declines continuously so that even after difficulty gets adjusted to account for lower hash rates, miners continue to lower their hash powers, then it could take longer than 4 years.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-06T17:01:08.503Z
I can't up-vote because I don't have the rep. Otherwise thanks!
sunra
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-06T17:42:04.370Z
If you think it answers your question you can tick the 'correct' mark so that others know this is an accepted answer.
Ugam Kamat
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-06T15:50:44.447Z
2019-04-06T15:50:44.447Z
Ugam Kamat
<p>Currently the next halving date is May 2020 (provisional) according to <a href="https://www.bitcoinblockhalf.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">enter link description here</a>.</p>

<p>I understand that every 210k blocks, the block reward is halved and this works out, roughly, to once every 4 years. </p>

<p>I guess I have two questions:
1) The 2012 halving took place approx. 3.8 years after genesis, and the 2016 halving took place a further 3.6 years after that. During this period hash rate increased almost continuously and at exaggerated rates due to continuous developments in mining technology from general to specific solutions (CPU -> GPU / FPGA -> ASIC). <strong>So were these 'premature' halvings due to the positive rate of change of hash rate?</strong></p>

<p>2) A halving on 23 May 2020 is roughly 3.9 years from the last halving. It seems this is linked to 2018's drop in hash rate, <strong>could a hash rate collapse lead to a delayed halving event (i.e. adding the current 210,000 blocks takes longer than 4 years)?</strong>  </p>

<p>Thank you.</p>

<hashpower><reward-schedule>
Can the Bitcoin halving be delayed?
sunra
# Can the Bitcoin halving be delayed?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-04-06)

Currently the next halving date is May 2020 (provisional) according to [enter link description here](https://www.bitcoinblockhalf.com/).

I understand that every 210k blocks, the block reward is halved and this works out, roughly, to once every 4 years.

I guess I have two questions:
1) The 2012 halving took place approx. 3.8 years after genesis, and the 2016 halving took place a further 3.6 years after that. During this period hash rate increased almost continuously and at exaggerated rates due to continuous developments in mining technology from general to specific solutions (CPU -> GPU / FPGA -> ASIC). **So were these 'premature' halvings due to the positive rate of change of hash rate?**

2) A halving on 23 May 2020 is roughly 3.9 years from the last halving. It seems this is linked to 2018's drop in hash rate, **could a hash rate collapse lead to a delayed halving event (i.e. adding the current 210,000 blocks takes longer than 4 years)?**

Thank you.

**Tags:** hashpower, reward-schedule


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2019-04-06. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

> So were these 'premature' halvings due to the positive rate of change of hash rate?

Bitcoin is designed to keep the block time at 10 minutes. The difficulty increases/decreases as the mining hash rate increases/decreases. At this 10 minute rate the the halving event comes every 4 years. As miners started using ASIC chips to mine blocks, the average time came down and that led to slightly lower halving time.

> could a hash rate collapse lead to a delayed halving event (i.e. adding the current 210,000 blocks takes longer than 4 years)?

If hash rate declines continuously so that even after difficulty gets adjusted to account for lower hash rates, miners continue to lower their hash powers, then it could take longer than 4 years.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I can't up-vote because I don't have the rep. Otherwise thanks!  
> **username_1**: If you think it answers your question you can tick the 'correct' mark so that others know this is an accepted answer.  

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