What a halving actually is
Bitcoin's issuance schedule is written into its code: roughly every four years, the reward paid to miners for adding a new block to the blockchain gets cut in half. This is a real, mechanical, verifiable event — it happens on a predictable schedule tied to block height, not to market sentiment or any company's decision. Each halving reduces the rate at which new bitcoin enters circulation, meaning the pace of new supply hitting the market slows, assuming demand stays constant or grows.
That basic supply mechanic is not controversial. What is far more debated is what happens to price as a result. A commonly repeated narrative holds that reduced new supply, combined with steady or growing demand, has historically preceded major bull cycles in the months following a halving. This narrative has circulated widely enough that many market participants trade around the expectation itself, which complicates any clean read on cause and effect.