Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Reaches New Record

The difficulty of mining Bitcoin has reached a new record high, hitting 90 T. After the latest adjustment, the difficulty increased by 10%, surpassing previous highs from the end of April.

Bitcoin mining difficulty has achieved a new all-time high. This means miners now require more computational power to find a new block in the Bitcoin blockchain.

As of July 31, the difficulty stands at 90.6 T (1 T = 1 trillion), according to BTC.com, with the network's average hash rate nearly reaching 650 EH/s. The average time to generate a block in the Bitcoin network is now about 9 minutes and 3 seconds.

Compared to mid-July, the difficulty has increased by 10.5% (up from 82.05 T). The previous maximum difficulty of 88.1 T was reached on April 24.

Bitcoin mining difficulty determines the amount of computational power needed to find a new block in the Bitcoin blockchain—essentially, how many times miners must compute the hash function value to find a cryptocurrency block.

Bitcoin mining difficulty, a key indicator affecting the profitability of cryptocurrency mining, undergoes adjustment every two weeks. This mechanism is built into the Bitcoin network's code to maintain an optimal block generation rate, preventing the process from becoming too fast or too slow. It ensures that regardless of the number of miners participating, the time required to create a new block remains within the set limits.

The over 10% increase in difficulty is a result of more miners and enhanced equipment power amid the rise in Bitcoin's price and hardware upgrades. The last time a double-digit increase was recorded was in January 2023.

The April Bitcoin halving led to a brief spike in mining difficulty, followed by a decrease. This was due to a sharp drop in revenues, causing many miners to halt operations, leading to an overall decline in the network's hash rate (the total power of miners' equipment).

The average weekly hash rate of the Bitcoin network fell from 658 EH/s right after the halving to 556 EH/s. As of July 31, according to the American mining company Luxor, the average weekly hash rate has recovered to 658 EH/s. This suggests that the period of mass Bitcoin selling by miners is over, and the network's computational power has started to grow again.

Bitcoin's hash rate not only recovered after the April halving but also set a new record in July.

Large mining companies are actively increasing their capacities. According to data published by American miners, companies showed growth in Bitcoin mining metrics in June.

Marathon Digital, one of the largest public mining companies, mined nearly 200 Bitcoin blocks in July, matching a record set for the first time since December 2023. The company announced a shift to a strategy of accumulation and holding of Bitcoin and purchased $100 million worth of Bitcoin on July 24.