Bitcoin mining difficulty hits record high of 95.67T
Bitcoin's (CRYPTO:BTC) mining difficulty has reached an all-time high, hitting 95.67 terahashes (T) after a 3.9% increase on Tuesday, according to Glassnode data.
This marks the 13th positive adjustment in 2024, reflecting the growing challenges of mining new blocks on the Bitcoin network.
The difficulty adjustments occur approximately every two weeks, ensuring that new blocks are mined at a steady rate of one every 10 minutes.
This surge in mining difficulty coincides with a record-breaking hashrate, which surpassed 700 exahashes per second (EH/s) for the first time.
A higher hashrate indicates an increase in the computational power dedicated to securing the Bitcoin network and processing transactions.
However, as mining difficulty rises, operational costs for miners also increase, pushing less profitable miners to either shut down operations or sell their Bitcoin holdings to cover expenses.
Glassnode’s data reveals that miner balances experienced significant outflows between November 2023 and July 2024, with over 30,000 BTC leaving miner wallets.
This distribution was driven by weaker miners facing increased costs after Bitcoin’s April halving.
Since July, however, miner balances have stabilized, indicating that remaining miners are adapting to the current market conditions.
Despite these challenges, public miners now control nearly 30% of Bitcoin’s mining capacity, marking a shift in the industry towards more consolidated operations.
Additionally, total mining revenue on a 7-day moving average has surpassed $35 million, up from a September low of $25 million.
This rise in revenue suggests stronger profitability for miners.
Historically, Bitcoin bull runs have coincided with total mining revenue surpassing the 365-day simple moving average (SMA), currently at $40 million.
As mining revenue approaches this threshold, market participants are increasingly anticipating the start of a new bull run, driven by increasing network activity and miner consolidation.
At the time of reporting, the Bitcoin price was $67,147.36.
Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.
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