The first satoshi mined on the Bitcoin blockchain after last week’s halving event, mined by Bitcoin mining pool ViaBTC, went up for auction—and fetched a sizable seven-figure sum.
The auction of “epic sat” 1,968,750,000,000,000, hosted on the cryptocurrency exchange CoinEX, ended Thursday with a final bid of 33.3 Bitcoin ($2.13 million worth) winning the piece of Bitcoin history. It's not yet clear who won the auction.
The auction of the Epic Sat began on April 20, the day after the halving, with a starting bid of 1 BTC, around $63,310. On Thursday, in the final minutes of the auction, the winning bid jumped multiple times from 18 BTC to 20 BTC, and finally the winning figure of 33.3 BTC.
A satoshi is the smallest denomination of Bitcoin, representing 1/100,000,000 of a single coin. Satoshis are awarded rarity levels based on varying factors, and the first satoshi mined after the quadrennial halving event—during which the BTC reward for miners is cut in half—is called an “epic sat.” There are now only four epic sats ever mined to date.
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The auction has concluded successfully, with the FIRST & ONLY epic sat selling for 33.3 $BTC (≈$2,134,000). This auction isn't just a bidding event; it marked the community recognition, media attention, & widespread embrace of #Bitcoin. A heartfelt thanks to all who support us. pic.twitter.com/fCFz1YrH0I
“CoinEx's partner, the ViaBTC mining pool, has officially mined the 840,000th block,” CoinEx wrote on the auction post. “This milestone not only signifies Bitcoin's fourth halving but also includes a block identified as an epic 'Rare Satoshi' by the Ordinals numbering system.”
“The general public has a keen interest in collecting valuable items. Given that satoshis are assigned unique identifiers, they inherently possess higher collectible value,” CoinEx wrote. “As periodic events occur within the Bitcoin network, some more frequently than others, scarcity is naturally promoted.”
With the Bitcoin halving only hours away, the race is on to mint the first tokens on the new Bitcoin Runes protocol set to launch alongside the quadrennial event.
Runes is a new fungible token protocol on Bitcoin that will let users “etch” and mint tokens on top of the chain. It’s akin to the experimental BRC-20 standard launched last year, but is said to be more efficient—and comes from the inventor of the Ordinals protocol.
In any case, as with the NFT-like Ordinals before it, project creators...
ViaBTC did not immediately respond to Decrypt’s request for comment.
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In addition to the value of being one of the first satoshis after the halving, inscribing or etching on one of these sats potentially brings added value to collectors of Bitcoin Runes tokens and NFT-like Ordinals inscriptions, potentially valued in the millions of dollars overall.
Open Bounty
If anyone can show me a confirmed deal with a major Bitcoin Miner to buy out the first block of the halving for Runes and the Epic Sat
I’m willing to put in up to $500k-$1M, depending on deal structure, DM me
🎁 Like & RT this, will pick 3 winners to gift Ordinals
“It’s thought that an Ordinals project that can successfully purchase that satoshi and inscribe an Ordinal on it would have a significant market premium because of the underlying satoshi’s rarity," Blockspace Media co-founder Will Foxley previously told Decrypt.
It's been roughly four days since Bitcoin (BTC)’s fourth halving event occurred, and market watchers have amassed enough data to give an early verdict on its effects.
For one, Bitcoin’s supply inflation rate has collapsed, as expected. Each Bitcoin block—mined roughly once every ten minutes—now produces just 3.125 new BTC, half of its former 6.25 BTC block subsidy.
Before the halving, 900 BTC was generated daily, fueling a 1.7% inflation rate. The new figures are roughly equivalent to 450 BTC pe...
Earn a free on-chain NFT by taking our course, "Bitcoin Halving 101: What it Means for Miners and Investors."
Every four years, the amount of Bitcoin doled out to cryptocurrency miners halves in a process imaginatively known as the Bitcoin halving (or halvening, though the term has fallen out of favor in recent years). Here’s why—and how—it works.
Bitcoin’s supply limit
To understand the Bitcoin halving, we must first understand the theory behind its supply.
The inventor of Bitcoin, Satoshi Naka...
The highly anticipated Bitcoin halving has arrived, and the Bitcoin faithful cheered the event, with many declaring a new era in Bitcoin—particularly as the new Runes protocol came online as well.
Anticipation around the halving has steadily grown since the start of the new year. In January, after the SEC approved the first set of Bitcoin ETFs, fuel was added to the fire, and investors began speculating what the fourth halving would mean for the price of the number one cryptocurrency.
Heading in...
