Bitcoin mining difficulty explained
Bitcoin’s mining difficulty is a metric determined by a specific target hash value that miners aim to achieve. With a difficulty level of 72 trillion, miners must generate a hash value below this threshold to successfully mine a new block. Following this 6.98% increase, the next difficulty adjustment is anticipated to occur around January 5, 2024. Additionally, the network’s hashrate reached new heights, hitting an all-time high on December 24, 2023.
Record-breaking hashrate amid technological advancements
Data from Luxor’s hashrateindex.com reveals that the seven-day simple moving average (SMA) of BTC’s hashrate reached 538 exahash per second (EH/s) as of December 24. Approximately 50 mining pools contribute SHA256 hashrate to the BTC network, with Foundry USA leading at 32.30%, commanding 173.55 EH/s of the total hashrate. Together, these two pools dominate, holding 59.25% of Bitcoin’s aggregate hashrate over the preceding three days.
At this juncture, around 17,000 blocks remain until the anticipated halving event expected to occur around the end of March or the beginning of April 2024. In 2023, the top three application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) manufacturers unveiled their latest next-generation mining rigs, which mining companies aggressively incorporated, significantly boosting efficiency, particularly in joules per terahash.
According to The Miner Mag, publicly listed mining companies invested $600 million in new machinery in December, with a total of $1.3 billion spent on ASIC acquisitions throughout the year. This notable investment surge, combined with the increase in mining difficulty and hashrate, reflects the growing competitiveness and technological advancements in the Bitcoin mining sector.
As the halving event approaches and the mining difficulty continues to set new records, the Bitcoin mining community remains at the forefront of technological innovation and strategic investment to navigate the dynamic and competitive environment of cryptocurrency mining.