Bitcoin mining difficulty, the measure of how hard it is to solve the complex cryptographic puzzles in the mining process, surpassed 80 trillion on February 16th. The hash rate of the network, which measures the total computational power used by miners, reached 562.81 exahashes per second (EH/s), and the mining difficulty reached a record 81.73 trillion, according to BTC.com. Since January 2023, Bitcoin mining difficulty has been steadily increasing and is expected to reach 100 trillion in the coming months.
In Bitcoin’s proof-of-work consensus mechanism, a higher difficulty means that miners need more computational power and energy to find the correct hash. Over the past year, Bitcoin’s difficulty level has more than doubled.
On February 15th, during its automatic readjustment, Bitcoin mining difficulty was expected to increase by around 6%. If this happens, it will reach new all-time highs above 80 trillion for the first time, according to data from BTC.com.
On February 16th, Bitcoin’s price remained at $52,000 as the latest US macro data surpassed expectations. This resulted in stagnant price action for Bitcoin during the last trading session of the week, according to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView.
Bitcoin’s mining rewards will be halved in April, a process known as the Bitcoin Halving. This reduction is built into Bitcoin’s structure approximately every four years to combat inflation. The last halving occurred in May 2020.
During the upcoming halving, Bitcoin’s rewards will decrease from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. This change may lead to a lower hash rate as less efficient miners may struggle to cover their costs and shut down their mining rigs. A decreased hash rate is likely to result in a decrease in Bitcoin mining difficulty, as the network aims to maintain a steady block production every 10 minutes.
According to analysts from Galaxy Digital, up to 20% of Bitcoin’s current hash rate could go offline after the halving, leaving only the most efficient mining rigs operational.