So for the price to stay the same it takes around 67.5k buys and 67.5k sells. Now lets subtract 1.8k from the sells. Now we have a 1.8k deficit or about a 2.7% daily deficit. Now over 365 days thats close to a 600k coin deficit. In other words a 985.5% coin deficit on the sell side. If you don't think 600k coins will move the exchange market, just watch.
Before the last halving the price was between $8-$12. A few months later it was at $200+. A few months later it was at $1250. It was not a coincidence.
I believe that the halving will have an effect over a long period (reducing inflation from 8% to 4%), but no discernible effect in the short term. The change in supply is just too small to make a noticeable difference. If you believe differently, then please explain why the price remained completely flat for two months after the first halving.
The bubbles that began in March and October had nothing to do with the halving.
More people will front run it this time, so the effects could be spread out and not as intense. Then again, its 50% fewer coins than last time, so it could be more intense, depending on demand.
It doesn't make sense that 12.5-to-6.25 change will have a much bigger effect than the 25-to-12.5 change. I suppose you believe that when the block reward drops from 2 satoshis to 1 satoshi, the result will be out-of-this-world even though there will already be 2,000,000,000,000,000 satoshis in circulation.
What do you think will happen to the price when the reward goes to 0? By your logic, bitcoins will become priceless.
To make a blanket statement that the reduction of inflation 50% had nothing to do with the 2 bubbles is pure head in the sand. The fact that the first bubble happened a couple of months after really is only a reflection of the culmulative/compound aspect of a reduction in inflation. Hence my 2.7% explanation.
The exchange markets control and set the price of BTC. People who sell on the exchanges are A) traders - the largest and B) miners - the 2nd largest group. Very few long term holders sell on exchanges. At least at current prices.
When miners have many fewer coins to sell, the equilibrium will slowly swing upwards.
The last 2 bubbles were a combination of this fact, willy bot, and closed loop fomo. Sans the willy bot, the same factors will be in play after the next halving.
A drop of 6.25 vs. 12.5 is arguably not as strong. However, I believe that most non-trader buyers are long term holders/investors so if the demand remains constant the supply will be in more and more jeopardy.
There is also the psychological aspect of scarcity. Yes, logically you know that there are only 21 million coins in future supply. But human emotions - the things that drive market prices - don't react logically. When scarcity is promoted or the idea seems more prevalent, the market will react emotionally. Its like global warming. Most people dont care until something happens to effect them personally that they think is related to global warming. Most humans have no foresight. They are driven by in-the-moment emotions and reactions. Financial market traders are some of the most notorious extremists of this type.
Hence I expect to see front running of the halving a good 6+ months prior to halving as bitcoin is now much more in the news, press and has a much larger base of investors and traders than in 2012.
We will probably see price rise into the halving and then possibly dip after (buy rumor, sell news). That is why I said the effect may be more spread out this time. However, the supply/demand aspects will still be in effect even if it dips. I would fully expect it to rise again.