the market was in its early stages prior to 2012

One area of the market that is directly affected by the halving event is the Bitcoin miners, via an immediate halving of block rewards for new blocks. This reduction in mining rewards can impact miners' revenue and profitability, as miners could face increased competition and higher operational costs, potentially leading to consolidation within the mining sector. Smaller miners may struggle to remain profitable, while larger players with greater resources, cheaper sources of electricity and economies of scale may dominate the industry. Looking beyond the halving events, the future of Bitcoin mining will eventually transition to relying solely on transaction fees once all 21 million Bitcoins have been mined. This shift will occur approximately 31 years after Bitcoin's inception. Miners will need to adapt to this change towards relying solely on transaction fees, although this will be a gradual change from each halving.