Litecoin block rewards: every halving and the final subsidy

Litecoin's subsidy is determined by block height and integer arithmetic. Calendar estimates are useful for planning, but the code does not contain a date on which a halving must happen.

Protocol and calculation review: 2 October 2026, Litecoin Core v0.21.5.8. The previous version confused the number of subsidy reductions with the point at which the integer reward becomes zero. This edition provides the formula, a complete era table and downloadable calculations.

The rule in the code

The starting subsidy is 50 LTC. Each LTC contains 100,000,000 litoshis, so the initial amount is 5,000,000,000 integer units. The mainnet interval is 840,000 blocks.

For a block at height h:

• Era number = floor(h / 840,000).
• Subsidy in litoshis = floor(5,000,000,000 / 2^era), until it becomes zero.
• Convert to LTC by dividing by 100,000,000.

The implementation uses an integer right shift. It also returns zero explicitly for era numbers of 64 or more, but rounding has already reduced the reward to zero at era 33. See GetBlockSubsidy in validation.cpp and mainnet chain parameters.

Every subsidy era

Era 0 starts at genesis height 0. The first reduced subsidy applies at block 840,000, not the block after it. Each subsequent era starts at another multiple of 840,000.

Download the complete reward schedule as CSV. This table describes the subsidy allowed by the reviewed consensus rules; transaction fees are separate.

What happens at the final reduction?

Era 32 pays one litoshi, or 0.00000001 LTC, per block. It begins at height 26,880,000. The final block eligible for a positive subsidy is 27,719,999. Height 27,720,000, the start of era 33, pays zero subsidy.

There is no half-litoshi reward. This is why repeatedly halving a decimal value without integer rounding produces a misleading schedule. The exact calendar year depends on how quickly future blocks arrive. “Around the early 2140s” is a broad projection, not a protocol deadline of 2142.

Summing the allowed subsidy across all positive eras gives 83,999,999.9076 LTC. This theoretical sum includes the genesis allocation; it is not a claim about spendable circulating supply. The genesis reward is unspendable, miners can claim less than the permitted reward, and lost keys further affect accessibility without changing issuance rules.

The next halving

At the review date, the subsidy era beginning at height 2,520,000 pays 6.25 LTC. The next boundary is 3,360,000, when the subsidy becomes 3.125 LTC.

The familiar estimate of 2027 comes from the target block interval of 150 seconds and the remaining blocks. Actual block production varies. Use the halving countdown for an estimate based on the site's current chain data, and check its freshness before relying on it.

A projection should state its starting height, timestamp and assumed average interval. A countdown that changes is not evidence that the consensus schedule changed.

Subsidy is not the same as miner revenue

The block reward can include subsidy plus transaction fees. A miner's economic result also depends on the coin price, share of network work, pool terms, energy, hardware and operating costs.

For merged miners, Dogecoin payouts introduce another revenue component. Halving the LTC subsidy therefore does not necessarily halve total Scrypt mining revenue. Conversely, another coin's revenue does not guarantee a profitable operation or a price floor for LTC.

Use the mining calculator to vary costs, and read the merged-mining explanation before interpreting a profitability estimate.

What a halving does not establish

A supply rule alone cannot predict demand, liquidity or price. Historical price paths around a few halvings are a small, selected sample affected by the wider market. An “automatic post-halving rally” is not a consequence of the code.

A more useful comparison separates the mechanical change in new issuance from uncertain changes in price and miner behaviour. The historical investment study makes its valuation date and price source explicit.

Frequently asked questions

Is the last positive reward paid in era 31?

No. Era 31 pays two litoshis and era 32 pays one. Era 33 is the first zero-subsidy era under these rules.

Does the 84 million cap mean exactly 84 million spendable coins?

No. Integer rounding makes the theoretical subsidy total slightly smaller, and spendability and circulating-supply estimates involve additional distinctions.

Do transactions stop when the subsidy ends?

The protocol can continue processing blocks and transactions. Fees would provide the direct block revenue, but the future level of mining security and fee demand is an economic question, not a guaranteed outcome.

For the economic question after the subsidy reaches zero, see our nine fee-budget scenarios. Their demand inputs are declared examples, not a forecast.