NEW YORK (Reuters) – Bitcoin slid on Monday in volatile trading, after it went through a technical adjustment that reduced the rate at which new coins are created, but the outlook remained upbeat as the increase in supply slows down.
FILE PHOTO: Representations of virtual currency Bitcoin are seen in this picture illustration taken taken March 13, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
Monday’s “halving” cuts the rewards given to those who “mine” bitcoin to 6.25 new coins from 12.5.
Bitcoin relies on so-called “mining” computers that validate blocks of transactions by competing to solve mathematical puzzles every 10 minutes. In return, the first to solve the puzzle and clear the transaction is rewarded new bitcoins.
In afternoon trading, bitcoin was last down 1% at $8,647.99 against the dollar at $8,728.25 BTC=BTSP. It briefly turned higher.
“The incentive is less for miners now to mine bitcoin and they will probably switch to more profitable cryptocurrencies. So in…
Source Reuters Tech News
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