Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Increased 13% – Highest Since May 2021

Bitcoin mining difficulty increased to an all-time high following the most recent pre-programmed adjustment to the bitcoin mining difficulty, reaching levels not seen in more than a year.

Recently, the hash rate has also been steadily increasing, setting a new record.

The greatest increase in mining difficulty in 17 months

The mining difficulty was designed as an integral component of the network and is updated every 2,016 blocks, or roughly every two weeks, depending on the current computational output. The long-term objective is to keep the block production at around 10 minutes.

The Bitcoin blockchain had four straight gains up until the end of September, when it experienced a small decline of more than 2%. However, the network recently experienced a 13.55% increase in difficulty, the largest since May 2021.

As a result, the metric has reached 35.61T, which is the highest value ever. This indicates that 35.6 trillion hashes are needed to mine one bitcoin.

It’s also important to note that over the past few months, the hash rate has been steadily increasing. Just a few days ago, it painted an all-time high of 278 Ehash/s.

When both metrics rise at the same time, it indicates that more and more miners are using their computing power to strengthen the largest blockchain in the world.

What’s the reason behind this?

The continuous bear market hurt many miners, and some even had to declare bankruptcy, but it seems that the aggregate number has been rising.

According to statistics from Cambridge, many Chinese people have switched their computers back on despite the ban, which may partially explain this. The US is still a leader, however.

In addition to the bear market, the fact that most markets have recovered from the scarcity of chips in 2020 and 2021, and the costs of some of the most popular mining rigs have all decreased.