Bitcoin has developed over a series of repetitive events, paramount among which is halving. The Bitcoin halving occurs roughly once every 4 years. It is an event designed to combat inflation, where the block reward for minig a block reduces by 50% from the previous cycle. The next Bitcoin halving event is a couple of months away and users are asking why Bitcoin is in short term accumulation stage before halving FOMO.

What is the relationship between Halving and FOMO?

The acronym FOMO is as popular among Bitcoin and cryptocurrency users as it is college students. It means “Fear Of Missing Out”. In the crypto sense, it is used to explain the behaviour of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency traders who attempt to position themselves ahead of an anticipated rise in price. Based on the historical behaviour of the Bitcoin price, users appear to behave in a certain way ahead of the Bitcoin halving.

As mentioned above, every Bitcoin halving event reduces the amount in block reward by 50%. This happens roughly every 4 years and the ecosystem is getting set for the 4th halving in the life of Bitcoin. The estimated date for this is May 24th, 2020, at block number 630,000.

Since the recovery of Bitcoin from the crypto winter of 2018, the Bitcoin price has spent a lot of time around the $10,000 region. The up and down movement has remained in a side-ways channel that is a typical characteristic of an accumulation. Analysts and experienced traders describe this behaviour as something natural for the pre-halving season. The price seems to stall, before embarking on a major rally during such periods.

What Is The Implication Of The Bitcoin Halving?

Several factors come into play when considering this behaviour, particularly the “Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO)”. This brings up the question: the Fear Of Missing Out on what?

When the Bitcoin halving occurs, it means that the rate of introducing new Bitcoins into the marketplace drops by as much as 50%. From an economic perspective, this means a drop in supply which creates scarcity. The implication of this is that there will be a rise in demand, the result of which would mean a surge in price.

Currently, the block reward for miners in the Bitcoin network is 12.5 BTC. By the next halving, it will become 6.25 BTC. Therefore, assuming that everything else remains the same, the demand will be expected to rise by 50%. But then, a lot of people expect that the demand of Bitcoin would be even greater, due to increasing awareness and adoption.

Bitcoin Price Predictions

There are bullish predictions already from top analysts suggesting that Bitcoin is in short term accumulation stage before halving FOMO. Rekt Capital predicts an increase within the range of 12,000% and 13,000% for Bitcoin after the next halving. This suggests that by the end of 2024, the Bitcoin price would be around $400,000.

Another popular analyst known as Crypto Michael recently shared his opinion on his Twitter handle about what he thinks about the current Bitcoin price behaviour. He also made a prediction about how the next Bitcoin halving will affect the price of the leading cryptocurrency.

Based on his analysis, the next stop for Bitcoin will be around the $25,000 region, a price that he thinks will be achieved by May 2020. Hence, most traders are currently sitting on their hands and avoiding any form of selling pressure in a FOMO situation. Rather, traders are accumulating Bitcoin on platforms like Vertex.Market that make purchases easy and seamless. The peer-to-peer platform provides liquidity and a flexible trading environment for users to buy Bitcoin.

At the moment, Bitcoin accumulation is very clear and obvious. The pioneer cryptocurrency is trading within a narrow horizontal channel, reflecting typical pre-halving behaviour. Many participants seem reluctant towards letting go of their holdings. For anyone willing to get into the market, the last quarter of 2019 appears to be a perfect opportunity in anticipation of the impending halving event. This also gives us an explanation as to why Bitcoin is in short term accumulation stage before halving FOMO.