Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Reaches Record 150.84 Trillion
Bitcoin's mining difficulty increased by 5% to a record 150.84 trillion, marking the seventh consecutive rise.
The difficulty adjusts every 2016 blocks (approximately two weeks) to maintain an average block time of about 10 minutes.
The network’s hash rate now exceeds one zettahash, reaching 1.05 ZH/s, indicating more machines are securing the network, enhancing security but increasing profitability challenges.
Miner revenue per hashrate unit (hashprice) fell below $50 per petahash per second, as reported by Luxor.
Hashprice peaked at $52 when Bitcoin traded above $118,000 earlier this summer but has declined due to rising difficulty and softer prices.
For miner margins to improve, changes in higher fees, bitcoin price rebound, or a slowdown in network hash rate are needed.
Despite challenges, mining stocks have risen with Bitcoin's surge above $118,500, with Cipher Mining up 51%, Bit Digital gaining 25%, and Marathon Digital climbing nearly 16%.
