Bitcoin mining difficulty just hit an all-time high, increasing by 5.6%. This means it’s now harder than ever to mine new Bitcoins.
What is Mining Difficulty?
Bitcoin’s difficulty is a measure of how hard it is for miners to solve complex mathematical problems to add new blocks to the blockchain. It automatically adjusts roughly every two weeks to keep the time it takes to mine a block consistently around 10 minutes. If blocks are being mined too quickly, the difficulty increases. If they’re taking too long, it decreases. This is all automated; no one person or entity controls it.
Why the Increase?
This latest jump to 114.1 terahashes (from 108.1 terahashes) is due to a significant increase in the hashrate – the total computing power used by Bitcoin miners. Miners have been expanding aggressively recently, leading to a much faster block creation rate. The chart below illustrates this growth. [Insert chart showing hashrate increase here]
The hashrate hit a new all-time high of around 845,200 terahashes per second just recently. This surge in mining activity is what triggered the difficulty adjustment.
What Does This Mean?
While the increased difficulty makes mining more challenging, the higher hashrate suggests continued strong interest in Bitcoin mining. However, it’s possible some miners might scale back their operations in response to the increased difficulty.
Bitcoin’s Current Price
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading around $98,200, up about 4% in the last week.