Bitcoin’s mining difficulty has soared to an unprecedented 92.67 trillion, signaling a significant increase in the computational power dedicated to securing the network. This adjustment comes on the heels of a record-breaking seven-day moving average hash rate of 693.84 EH/s, reached on Sunday.
The difficulty adjustment, which occurs approximately every two weeks, ensures that the average time to mine a new block remains around 10 minutes, irrespective of the number of miners competing for the reward.
This surge in difficulty is a direct response to the increasing number of miners joining the network. The more miners there are, the harder it becomes to find the next block, thus pushing up the difficulty level.
Following the halving event in May, Bitcoin miners faced a considerable drop in revenue, forcing less efficient miners to exit the market. However, as larger, more established miners deploy new capacity and upgrade their equipment, the total network hash rate is steadily climbing again.
Despite the rising difficulty, Bitcoin’s hash price – the expected daily earnings for 1 TH/s of hashing power – has plummeted to all-time lows of $0.04 this month. This indicates the intensified competition among miners and the pressure on profitability.