Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Increase

Bitcoin mining difficulty rose 6.2% on Tuesday, surpassing the 100 trillion level for the first time due to a record average hash rate on the network.

The difficulty adjustment occurred at block height 868,896, hitting a record of 101.7 trillion, according to blockchain explorer Mempool. This exceeded the prior record of 95.7 trillion, set just two weeks earlier.

Bitcoin mining difficulty is a relative measure indicating how hard it is to mine a new block. It automatically adjusts every 2016 blocks (approximately two weeks) to ensure that a new block is mined every 10 minutes on average, regardless of the number of miners.

Before Tuesday’s adjustment, blocks were being mined faster than average, at about one block every nine minutes and 27 seconds, according to Clark Moody’s dashboard.

Higher difficulty means miners require more computational power and energy to find the correct hash for the next block. When the number of miners increases, the difficulty rises. Conversely, if fewer miners are competing, the protocol lowers the difficulty, making it easier for the remaining miners.

Bitcoin Network Hash Rate Exceeds 750 EH/s

Recently, Bitcoin's hash rate, which tracks the total computational power contributed by miners, reached a seven-day moving average all-time high of 755.5 EH/s, surpassing the 750 EH/s mark for the first time, as reported by The Block’s data dashboard.

Following Bitcoin’s fourth halving event on April 20, which cut block subsidy rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC, miners experienced a significant revenue drop. Earnings fell from a peak of $72.4 million on the day of the event to a range of $25 to $35 million, forcing less efficient miners out of the market.

This also affected Bitcoin’s hash price, which hit record lows of $0.04 in September but has slightly rebounded to $0.045. The hash price indicates the expected daily earnings from 1 TH/s of hashing power.

Despite these challenges, bitcoin miners have been increasing their hash power since the low of 550.3 EH/s in June. Surviving operators, primarily U.S. public miners, are deploying new capacity, upgrading their rigs, and consolidating market share.

In 2024, strategies of public bitcoin miners have varied significantly, with stocks of AI diversifiers such as Core Scientific, IREN, and Terawulf outperforming pure-play bitcoin mining companies like CleanSpark, Riot, and MARA.

Currently, Bitcoin is trading at $68,694, according to The Block’s Bitcoin Price Page. Although it is down approximately 4% over the past week, it remains 63% up year-to-date.