Network Difficulty On Bitcoin Blockchain Hits New High After Two Major Declines

Key Takeaways

• Bitcoin mining difficulty reaches a new all-time high.
• The climb is coming after two successive drops and a hashrate increase.
• Bitcoin miners continue to focus on expansion plans.

Bitcoin mining difficulty has surpassed its previous all-time high reached last month. According to data from BTC.com, the difficulty of the Bitcoin network increased by 4.13% to reach 28.59 T today, a new record high.

Bitcoin mining difficulty continues to climb after two successive drops

The latest uptick is coming after the last two adjustments dropped mining difficulty by 1.84%. The uptick is however lower than BTC.com’s estimate that anticipated a 4.56% increase to 27.97T. 

Mining difficulty adjustment is one of the Bitcoin network’s key operating features. The network is programmed to dynamically adjust the difficulty miners face in solving the complex puzzle that will allow them to add new blocks of transactions to the network and block rewards. 

This adjustment takes place approximately every two weeks or 2016 blocks based on the average time taken to solve the puzzle in the last period.

With the latest adjustments driving difficulty to a new high, miners will face their toughest challenge yet in earning block rewards. The increase has also been in the offing as Bitcoin mining hashrate, the second key Bitcoin network feature has remained elevated at 202.13 EH/s.

Denver Bitcoin, a Bitcoin miner, noted that the previous downwards corrections may have been the last for the year. This is because of development that could drive mining hashrate to as high as 300 EH/s before the year runs out. 

Several developments are likely to drive up the hashrate of Bitcoin mining this year. According to a recent report by Arcane Research, Bitcoin mining companies including Marathon, Core Scientific, and Hut 8 all have plans to increase their hashrate significantly throughout the year.

Similarly, chipmakers and mining machine makers including Intel have plans to produce game-changing Bitcoin mining equipment.

Bitcoin mining still facing pushback from environmentalists

While there is no doubt that Bitcoin mining is here to stay, the activity has often been criticized. In recent times, the latest to voice concerns is a collective involving Chris Larsen, co-founder of Ripple, and Greenpeace, who are campaigning to have Bitcoin change from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake. 

The campaign has been met with strong opposition by Bitcoin believers. Ardents continue to argue that Bitcoin rather than wasting energy, is a way to incentivize the utilization of renewable and sustainable energy.