Explainer-What is bitcoin's 'halving', and does it matter?

FILE PHOTO: Representations of cryptocurrency Bitcoin are seen in this illustration picture taken in Paris, France, March 9, 2024. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/Illustration/ File Photo

LONDON (Reuters) - As bitcoin's price reaches new heights, attention is turning to its upcoming "halving" and whether it is playing a role in its ascent.

Depending on where you sit, the halving is a vital event that will burnish bitcoin's value as an increasingly scarce commodity, or nothing more than a technical change talked up by speculators to inflate its price.