It has just been over a year since Bitcoin's last halving (CRYPTO: BTC), which took place on April 20, 2024. The next halving is not expected to occur until mid-April 2028. But I have been looking forward to it for at least three reasons, and I have been preparing for it.

1. Supply constraints will increase

If you are a long-term investor and a long-term holder of Bitcoin, then each halving is an increase in supply dynamics that makes this coin scarce. In other words, halving needs to happen for the price of the asset to continue to rise assuming there is steady demand.

Halving is named as such because when it occurs, on average about every four years, the reward that miners receive for mining a Bitcoin block is cut in half. Thus, those miners have less new supply to sell to the market to provide the fiat liquidity they need to fund their capital and operating costs. That means buyers have to compete more fiercely with the coins being offered, pushing prices higher.

Halving contributes to scarcity, although it does not guarantee that prices will rise. The issue is that halving helps the same group of buyers push prices higher than before; there does not need to be a large increase in new interest in Bitcoin. And as both a holder and a consistent buyer, all of this is something to look forward to, as it means that getting wealthier could be around the corner.

2. Running ahead can and will drive up the price next time

Even if you plan to hold your coins forever, like I do, it is still quite exciting when the price rises. And halving has a known impact on price, but not quite like what the previous section may lead you to think.

The exact date of the halving is not known in advance, as it only occurs after every 210,000 Bitcoin blocks are mined. However, it is possible to make a fairly close estimate of the halving date based on the rate at which blocks are mined, which automatically adjusts every two weeks or longer to try to keep the time to mine each block around 10 minutes. Savvy investors know that it is not necessary to predict the date of a specific catalyst to benefit from the increase it may have; you can simply buy the asset beforehand, then enjoy the results whenever the catalyst occurs.

And that is what tends to happen with Bitcoin: Prices often rise in the 12 to 18 months leading up to the estimated halving event as savvy actors lead the event. Check out this chart:

Now consider that before the most recent halving, halving events occurred in May 2020 and July 2016.

I have a long-term strategy of accumulating Bitcoin at a slow pace regardless of its price, but a stronger buying season in preparation for the next halving is about a year and a half away. Prices will likely rise during that time. And that opportunity phase is quite exciting, to put it mildly.

3. It could create an alternative season

Traditionally, altcoin seasons tend to occur within 12 to 18 months after a Bitcoin halving. The term 'altcoin season' refers to the period during which many altcoins see significant price increases. They are very exciting if you hold altcoins -- basically all cryptocurrencies except Bitcoin -- because that is when you see whether the market considers your investment decision wise or just a pipe dream. This is also the best opportunity most investors have to exit their investments in altcoins made at favorable entry points when prices were at their lows.

The reason altcoin seasons tend to coincide with the period after halving is that new Bitcoin holders become wealthy, just coming off the highs of the coin after halving, taking some of their winnings and investing in riskier plays in smaller cryptocurrencies that have the potential for significant price increases. Whether this reasoning continues to hold true remains difficult to determine, but the timing of previous altcoin seasons fits quite well with the story.

Because the alt season is when the market decides which coins and tokens have value and which ones are just hot air, they tend to determine which projects will survive and become a permanent part of the cryptocurrency ecosystem, and which projects will wither away. There is no guarantee that a coin will last long just because its price skyrockets during alt season, but the best teams in the cryptocurrency space tend to seize the moment by using the funds generated from the growth of their coin to finance the next steps of their strategic plan.

So, halving tends to bring many opportunities for investors to discover altcoins that could become the strongest investments.