Key Highlights
- Bitcoin mining difficulty adjusts positively for the eighth straight time as hashrate increases.
- The last instances of such multiple positive adjustments occurred during the bear market of 2018 and the bull market of 2021.
New milestones have been achieved in the Bitcoin ecosystem, where the mining difficulty has escalated to a record high of 110.45 trillion (T). This difficulty level is approximately 110.45 trillion times more challenging than at the inception of Bitcoin.
The adjustment occurs every 2,016 blocks, recalibrating to maintain an average block mining time of 10 minutes.
As this marks the eighth consecutive positive difficulty adjustment, it presents further challenges for miners, intensifying competition and making it more difficult to mine Bitcoin blocks for rewards. Consequently, some publicly traded miners have shifted towards high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) sectors due to the challenges in sustaining operations solely through Bitcoin mining. Notably, MARA Holdings has turned to issuing convertible bonds to procure Bitcoin instead of relying on mining profits alone.
Historically, this pattern of consecutive positive adjustments has not been new; such occurrences were noted during 2021, shortly after the ban on mining activities in China, which resulted in a sharp decrease in hashrate.
In contrast, between December 2017 and July 2018, Bitcoin experienced 17 positive adjustments, correlating with the peak of the bull market when Bitcoin prices approached $20,000. A minor negative adjustment succeeded in July 2018, with Bitcoin priced at around $6,000.
The narrative of Bitcoin difficulty adjustments encompasses cycles of peaks and troughs; with this latest adjustment, it remains pivotal for miners to adapt and thrive amidst the evolving landscape.
