How Will Ethereum Triple Halving Impact ETH's Price?

Since its launch in 2015, Ethereum has been one of the most popular altcoins. It's reputable, just like Bitcoin, but it mainly boasts its utility. One of the newest changes to Ethereum has been the Ethereum Merge upgrades. These adjustments allowed Ethereum to transition from a proof of work (PoW) model to a new proof of stake (PoS) model. If you've been looking into these changes, you might come across the term — "Ethereum Triple Halving." Many investors, traders and industry experts are looking on with an eagerness of anticipation to see how it will impact the ETH prices, fees and more. 

In this post, we'll break down what exactly Ethereum Triple Halving is and highlight its potential implications for users, developers and stakeholders. We'll factor in the current market expectations and sentiment surrounding the ETH price movement leading up to and following the coin's deflationary model. By the end of the blog, you should be better equipped with the ins and outs of ETH to make an informed decision about your investment. 

What Is Ethereum Triple Halving?

Ethereum Triple Halving involves a reduction of ETH's block reward from three (3) ETH block rewards to one (1) ETH, which will happen every four to six years. It is designed to reduce the inflation rate within the Ethereum network, in which the move is likely beneficial to increase the value of ETH over time. The term gets its name from the practice of Bitcoin halving, where Bitcoin mining rewards are halved every four years. Triple halving is similar, but it happens at a much larger scale. This is accomplished by reducing the block reward miners receive every time they successfully verify a transaction block. Similar to Bitcoin halving, Ethereum miners will be rewarded with the token whenever a coin is newly minted. However, Ethereum also pays out transaction fees associated with every mined block. 

How Does the Ethereum Triple Halving Work?

Multiple factors behind the drop in ETH issuance are mostly tied to the transition from PoW to PoS mining. This essentially means the number of ETH created with each block will decrease over time. Since PoS is less intensive than PoW for miners, Ethereum is reducing the reward for token validators. 

Before the change, miners generated around a 4% increase in tokens per year. Afterward, there will only be a 0.5% increase in tokens per year. In other words, triple halving will trigger the reduction of miner rewards from three ETH per block to one ETH every 12 seconds across all mining pools. This reduction will ultimately help to incentivize miners to move towards transaction fees as their source of income. 

In addition to reducing the number of coins produced, the Ethereum upgrade also reduces the number of circulating coins. To mine ETH, miners must show proof of having a cryptocurrency staked. The new mechanism involves smart contracts where miners' existing tokens are locked for several months after they begin mining. These assets can't circulate until the locking period is up, so ETH staking means there will be less ETH moving around on the network.

When it comes to token burning, with each transaction, a small percentage of the token will be sent to an address that can only receive tokens instead of sending them. This "burns" the tokens and removes them entirely from circulation. The token burning is essentially a fee you pay for any transaction, and it also means that the token supply will drop slowly over time. This intentionally deflationary method helps keep supply from increasing rapidly.

Ethereum's History: Proof of Work vs. Proof of Stake vs. The Merge

To understand why all these changes are happening, it's important to understand Ethereum's history. Ethereum was first launched as a traditional cryptocurrency. However, as it grew, the founders realized there were some scalability issues. They ultimately decided to make an alteration to their network to address these issues, ensuring the blockchain could continue to function as a development platform.

Starting in 2020, Ethereum began the official transition through the Ethereum Merge. The PoW is a token mining method where people use computers to solve mathematical puzzles and then get rewards for their effort. Meanwhile, PoS relies on the random selection of available validators who staked their crypto to validate a transaction.

PoW is controversial because of its cost and environmental impact. Meanwhile, PoS is more straightforward to implement and less resource-intensive to manage. This makes it more scalable to validate new transactions and gets token holders more involved with the Ethereum blockchain. 

Starting in December 2020, Ethereum launched the Beacon Chain to test Ethereum staking. This went so well that they decided to move the Beacon Chain to the main chain in an event called The Merge. Implemented in September 2022, The Merge turned the main Ethereum chain into a PoS consensus mechanism.

What Do Validators Consuming Less Energy Post-Merge Mean?

One of the big selling points for The Merge is that it's more eco-friendly. Validators will use less energy because they no longer have to run computers for days to mine coins. Previously, the only way to create a new ETH was by feeding computer energy so it could solve mathematical puzzles. Since crypto mining uses up to 240 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity each year, this mining method is a massive source of environmental damage.

The proof of stake validation transition is expected to reduce energy consumption by 99.84%. Almost no computation energy is required for Ethereum 2.0 because the new mining method consists of participants voting to validate a new transaction successfully. The only energy consumed is the energy needed to run the systems for a few seconds. This massive decline in power will mean that Ethereum is significantly more sustainable.

How Does Ethereum Triple Halving Affect the Price of ETH?

When the Ethereum Triple Halving process first took effect, prices dropped drastically. Despite ETH users anticipating The Merge for years, token prices dropped by over 20% in the days following the triple halving. The coin dropped from around $1,700 to roughly $1,200.

This may seem concerning, but experts note that the crypto pullback was mostly from day traders speculating wildly in the days leading up to The Merge. After a brief period of being over-inflated, The Merge encouraged the ETH price to stabilize. Since then, prices have fluctuated within a plausible range, but they are on a steady rise. As of early February 2023, ETH is slightly over the $1,640 range.

How Does Triple Halving Impact the Scarcity of ETH?

One of the most notable effects of the Ethereum Triple Halving is that it changes the supply of ETH. Triple halving doesn't mean that the number of ETH in circulation will drastically drop. However, it will greatly slow the rate at which tokens are generated. While other cryptocurrencies will continue adding hundreds of tokens daily, Ethereum's production rate will be much slower.

This will give Ethereum tokens more scarcity than other cryptos. Due to the effects of The Merge, it is now officially a deflationary token. In the future, it may be a challenge for investors to get their hands on ETH without paying a high price. The scarcity also makes ETH a more logical choice for transactions because people can accept payments without worrying that inflation will make their funds valueless over time.

EIP-1599 Fee Burn: Explained

The practice of "burning" a small portion of ETH each time a user makes a transaction has dramatically contributed to the triple halving. Under the EIP-1559 proposal, users agree to pay a small base fee for each transaction, which is immediately burned, and users can also pay a small tip to prioritize their transactions.

The exact amount of the base fee burn varies depending on how full the blocks are. It can increase and decrease by up to 12.5%. Over time, all these small percentages add up quite a bit. They allow extra Ethereum tokens to be removed from circulation, which can help to reduce potential inflation. There has already been a noticeable effect from the EIP-1599 burn. Since this fee burn went into effect in 2019, it's burned over two million ETH.

What Are the Ethereum Triple Halving Price Predictions for the Future?

Ethereum spokespeople emphasize that triple halving is about long-term success, not short-term profit. As the benefits of the Ethereum Merge slowly appear, prices will hopefully rise. There's certainly a chance the price will continue to fluctuate soon, but most people believe the Ethereum Triple Halving will eventually lead to slow but steady gains.

Prices are predicted to eventually rise because the triple halving will likely allow for future growth and usability. Its main advantages will lie in making ETH more stable and versatile than its competitors. Though its prices aren't likely to soar above all other cryptos, triple halving can potentially prevent it from dropping drastically when other cryptos on the market dip.

Learn more: Ethereum Shanghai: Can ETH Price Soar Again?

How High Could ETH Go?

In the upcoming months, you can expect to see some growth in ETH prices, but don't expect anything too drastic. Most crypto experts are predicting short-term prices in the $1,800 to $2,200 range. There will be at least a few drops as the sudden changes cause some disruption among ETH users. However, price predictions are a lot more bullish in the long run.

Because Ethereum Triple Halving creates such a bright future for the coins, the outlook is very promising. Deflationary pressure and an eco-friendly mining model will potentially turn ETH into the most usable cryptocurrency for day-to-day transactions. If this happens, prices will likely increase as the number of transactions rises. In the next few years, it's a positive outlook for ETH to break the $2,000 mark again and could easily top out above its previous all-time high of $4,811.

What Will Ethereum Be Worth in 2030?

What is Ethereum's price likely to be in the next decade? Though everyone agrees that the value of Ethereum tokens is on the rise, they are still determining how much their price will increase. Some investors offer extremely optimistic guesses. Ark Invest released a report saying they believe Ethereum will meet a $20 trillion market capitalization by 2030, meaning each ETH coin would have a price of roughly $170,000. Likewise, Pantera Capital's CEO says he believes ETH will hit six-figure prices by 2030.

While such high prices would be impressive, most economists recommend a little more caution. The reality is that the days of random crypto rocketing to sky-high prices might be in the past. Instead of extreme volatility, some experts believe we will see slow, steady rises similar to more traditional assets. According to these models, Ethereum may reach prices of around $20,000 per token by 2030.

Learn more: Find out the Ethereum (ETH) live price.

Summary

The ETH Triple Halving is an interesting side effect of the Ethereum Merge. This series of upgrades to the coin will transition the crypto to a PoS model, and it also means the amount of new Ethereum tokens will drastically decline. All of these changes are likely to cause some volatility for ETH prices in the next few months, but they have the potential to make the coin a lot more valuable in the future. Interested in learning more about Ethereum and crypto investing? Check out our site for all the latest crypto news!