Educational information, not financial advice.
Miners are paid the block subsidy plus fees. Together this is the security budget: it buys the hashrate that makes attacks expensive.
The facts (23 Oct 2026)
- Since block 840,000 (April 2024), the subsidy is 3.125 BTC.
- The next halving is at block 1,050,000, expected around 2028 (block height read 972,832 on 23 Oct 2026).
- The subsidy approaches zero around 2140; after that miners earn fees only.
The concern
If fees stay low while the subsidy falls, miner revenue in BTC shrinks, and so could hashrate.
Bitcoin's answers
- Time: the subsidy still dominates for many halvings. There are decades to grow fee demand.
- Value: revenue counts in purchasing power. If bitcoin's value rises, the same BTC buys more security.
- Block space is scarce: blocks have a fixed limit, so demand for final settlement (including Lightning channel opens and closes, and large transfers) sets a market price.
- Difficulty adjusts: the network keeps working at any hashrate; security scales with what is paid.
It is an open research topic, not a solved one. It is also not urgent, which gives fee markets time to mature.