block reward
The block reward is the total payment a miner receives for successfully adding a new block. It consists of the block subsidy (newly created bitcoin) plus all transaction fees in that block. As of the 2024 halving, the subsidy is 3.125 BTC per block.
The block reward has two components. The first is the block subsidy: newly created bitcoin that enters circulation only through the act of mining. The subsidy started at 50 BTC per block when the network launched in January 2009 and halves approximately every four years in a programmed event called the halving. After the fourth halving in April 2024, the subsidy is 3.125 BTC. It will continue to halve until approximately the year 2140, when the last fraction of a bitcoin is mined and the subsidy reaches zero. The second component is transaction fees, paid by users who want their transactions included in a block. Fees go entirely to the miner who produces the block.
The block subsidy is the only mechanism by which new bitcoin enters circulation. Because it halves on a fixed schedule and the total supply is capped at 21 million coins, the rate of new supply is known and predictable decades in advance. This is fundamentally different from fiat currencies, where central banks can expand supply at any time.
As the subsidy decreases over successive halvings, transaction fees are expected to make up a larger share of miner income. Whether fees alone will be sufficient to secure the network long-term is an open question in Bitcoin research. For now, the subsidy remains the dominant component of the block reward at current fee levels.