Bitcoin is notoriously volatile, prone to sudden price surges and swift reversals that can wipe out millions of dollars of value in a matter of minutes. Those changes are often mysterious to market observers, given the digital currency’s lack of fundamentals, or ties to the real economy. Bitcoin has another quirk, one that was built into the code that gave it birth: every so often, the formula that governs the rate at which new tokens are created changes. As another such event — called a halving — approaches, Bitcoin supporters and skeptics are debating what kind of impact it may …
