Bitcoin’s Mining Value Slashed in Programmed 4-Year ‘Halving’

The digital Bitcoin crypto-currency undergone its second-ever slashing in half on Saturday, a change known as "halving" programmed to take place every four years.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Since being introduced in 2009 to create a decentralized peer-to-peer payment system through currency generated by mining, Bitcoin saw its mining value decrease from the original 50 to 25, and will now stand at 12.5 bitcoins.

Mining refers to the process of creating Bitcoins by performing mathematical calculations. The number of Bitcoins awarded for successfully solving algorithms is programmed to halve every four years to mimic the production rate of commodities like gold.

Bitcoin allows online users to send payments to one another. The crypto-currency can also be traded for conventional currencies without participation of governmental financial institutions. It was created in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonym behind a person or a group of people who designed the original software.

Unlike traditional currencies, bitcoin has no material form and global currency regulation does not apply to it. An unlimited number of anonymous sources can issue and use the cryptocurrency.