Summary
TLDR: Bitcoin halving expected in mid-April due to miners upgrading to faster machines; prices surging to all-time high of $74,000. Projects targeting halving for launches, including Runes protocol. Block 840,000 could be valuable due to ability to trade specific satoshis. Competition may lead to reorg.
Key Points
1. The expected date of the next Bitcoin halving is now around mid-April, earlier than previously expected, due to miners upgrading to faster, more powerful machines and powering up older models.
2. Many projects are now targeting the halving event for hype-inducing launches, such as the planned launch of Runes, a fungible-token protocol being developed by Casey Rodarmor. This has caused a frenzy in the Bitcoin community, with a scramble expected to mine block No. 840,000 where the halving is supposed to occur.
3. The introduction of the Ordinals protocol allows for the trading of specific serial numbers to tiny increments of Bitcoin, known as satoshis or “sats.” There is a premium for rare sats corresponding with milestones like the halving, leading to predictions that block 840,000 could be the most valuable block to be mined to date.