Bitcoin Mining Woes As Difficulty Set to Increase Amid Hashrate Boom – Investor Bites

On May 29, Luxor Technology’s HashRateIndex revealed that Bitcoin’s seven-day hashrate reached a record high of 659 exahashes per second (EH/s), marking a 13.6% increase from its post-halving low of 580 EH/s. Additionally, Bitinfocharts reported that the average network hashrate over the weekend hit a new peak of 732 EH/s. 

This spike in network power spells more challenges for Bitcoin miners as each block becomes increasingly difficult and competitive to mine. However, elevated hashrates also enhance the security of the Bitcoin blockchain. 

According to HashRateIndex, the rise in hashrate suggests that public Bitcoin miners are activating their ASIC hardware orders as planned, introducing more advanced equipment and boosting competition with additional hash power. 

Currently, the average block time is an intense 9 minutes and 26 seconds. The leading public miners have scheduled 76.6 EH/s worth of equipment for 2024, with 12.9 EH/s delivered in Q1 and nearly 36 EH/s expected in Q2, according to HashRateIndex, which commented:

“Regardless of where it’s coming from, the current surge in hashrate is going to smack miners with a hefty upward difficulty adjustment in about 8 days.”

The platform projects a +5.97% difficulty adjustment. Difficulty measures the competitiveness among miners on the network and currently stands at 84.38T, down from an all-time high of 88.1T earlier this month. Another increase in difficulty will further challenge miners. 

HashRateIndex noted,

If Bitcoin’s price stays steady, the next adjustment will likely drive hashprice back below $50/PH/Day 

Hashprice indicates how much a miner can earn from a given amount of hash rate. It currently stands at $53 per petahash per second per day, having dropped 46% since the start of the year. 

During the peak of the crypto market cycle in 2021, hashprices soared to $400/PH/s/day but have since plummeted 87% due to declining mining profits amidst rising competition, energy, and hardware costs, and increasing network hashrates. Consequently, large mining firms are seeking cheaper energy sources in countries across Africa and Scandinavia.

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• Source: https://investorbites.com/bitcoin-mining-woes-as-difficulty-set-to-increase-amid-hashrate-boom/