While Covid-19 and its impact on the world around us have had a significant sway on the news and interest of people, including markets, and cryptocurrency markets, there is evidence that the minds of those who have an interest in Bitcoin are looking to the future.

Next month, Bitocin will undergo its third mining reward halving as each new block will now offer up 6.25 BTC rather than 12.5 BTC. This will have a significant effect on the mining ecosystem, but it could also impact the price of Bitcoin. Just how it impacts Bitcoin’s price going forward is still uncertain, but based on historical evidence, in the long term, it should lead to higher prices.

While this is yet to be seen in a market that has been maturing, but recently heavily affected by the global pandemic, one thing is sure is that the interest in google searches is growing. Data from Google Trends indicates that search interest in the terms “Bitcoin halving” and “halving” have both seen a large growth in recent months.

The chart from Google shows that over the past 12 months, global interest in the search term “Bitcoin halving” has risen from a reading of 19 a year ago to around 78 at the start of this month, shortly after peaking at 100 in the middle of March.

Rallying interest

Perhaps expectantly, the rise in the interest of the halving was also timed with the growth in the price of the coin that came at the beginning of the year. Bitcoin has been known to grow in value with heightened Google interest, and the interest is known to grow with this in a ‘Satoshi Cycle’.

The highest spike in interest over the last year correlates with Bitcoin’s rally from the $6,400 lows of December to $10,500 by mid-February, suggesting that halving excitement may well have been a catalyst.

This has taken a turn since the black swan event of the Covid-19 pandemic and its associated crash to around $3,800 in March, apparently caused by wider panic in all markets.

A precursor in BCH

Bitcoiners have had the luxury of letting one of its smaller forks, Bitcoin Cash, take the brunt of a modern-day halving to see the impact. While Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash are fundamentally different, the impact of the halving on BCH has not done much for its price, but it has severely damaged its hash power.