As pandemic rages, anything goes for bitcoin’s third ‘halving’ | News

By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Bitcoin is about to undergo a scheduled technical adjustment as the number of new coins awarded the computer wizards who “mine” the cryptocurrency will be cut in half, but forecasting which way its price will move afterward is more complicated now.

Investors are widely anticipating this so-called “halving,” the third in bitcoin’s 11-year history. The previous events fueled huge rallies in bitcoin’s market value, but there is a wildcard this time in the form of the coronavirus pandemic, some analysts said.

“From an efficient market perspective, any fundamental reaction to the halving should be heavily priced in at this point; after all, it’s hard to imagine a more predictable event than an unalterable supply reduction that has been scheduled for more than a decade in a liquid, heavily-traded … asset,” said Matt Weller,…