In the kickoff of 2024, Bitcoin flexed its muscles, breaking its own record with a jaw-dropping hashrate of 549 exahash per second (EH/s) on January 6th. Talk about starting the year on a high note! Sure, there was a bit of a hiccup after December 25, 2023, when the hashrate dipped from 546 EH/s to a low of 510 EH/s. But guess what? Bitcoin shrugged it off, making a comeback despite a drop in hash prices and a tricky hike in difficulty.
A New Peak for Bitcoin’s Hashrate in 2024 at 549 EH/s
As the calendar flipped to 2024, Bitcoin’s seven-day average hashrate soared to new heights, hitting an impressive 549 EH/s on January 6th. Let’s put that into perspective—this milestone outshone the previous record set just days earlier on Christmas Day, reaching 546 EH/s. To break it down further, that’s a mind-boggling 549 quintillion hashes per second (H/s) or 0.549 zettahash per second (ZH/s). And just for clarity, one zettahash equals a whopping 1,000 EH/s or 1,000,000 petahash per second (PH/s).
Okay, so the three-day simple moving average (SMA) suggests the hashrate peaked slightly higher at 565 EH/s. But hey, let’s not forget the superior high of 580 EH/s documented on December 25th. As of January 7, 2024, a solid 50 mining pools are throwing their hashrate into the Bitcoin ring, with Foundry USA leading the pack according to three-day SMA data.
Over the past three days, Foundry took charge, commanding 26.93% of the hashrate with a whopping 141.59 EH/s. Right on their heels is Antpool, contributing 139.13 EH/s and snagging 26.46% of the total hashrate. Others in the mix include F2pool, Viabtc, Binance Pool, and Marathon’s Mara Pool. This hashrate surge aligns with a drop in the hash price per petahash per second (PH/s) value and a recent 1.65% bump in difficulty.
Despite this robust hashrate, projections hint at a potential decrease ranging from 1.59% to 8.5%, thanks to slower block intervals compared to the expected 10-minute average. Recent blocks have been clocking in anywhere from 10 minutes and 32 seconds to 10 minutes and 55 seconds. And guess what? Less than 1,800 blocks are left until the next retarget scheduled for January 19, 2024.
What’s your take on this latest hashrate feat? Feel free to drop your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below!
