Bitcoin’s mining difficulty has reached unprecedented levels, hitting a new all-time high of 95.67 trillion at block height 866,880. This represents a 3.94% increase from the previous adjustment, marking another milestone in the evolution of the network.
The soaring difficulty reflects the increasing competition among miners and the vast amount of computational power being used to secure the Bitcoin network. At the same time, the network’s hashrate, a measure of the total computational power used to mine and process transactions, continues to operate at an impressive 729.13 exahash per second (EH/s).
This surge in difficulty means it is now 3.94% tougher for miners to validate transactions and create new blocks. Essentially, the process of mining Bitcoin is now 95.67 trillion times harder than it was when the cryptocurrency was first launched in 2009. The difficulty adjustment is an automated mechanism designed to ensure that new blocks are added to the blockchain roughly every ten minutes, despite fluctuations in the network’s computational power.
What makes this adjustment particularly notable is the sustained strength of the network’s hashrate, which remains well above the 700 EH/s mark. According to data from Luxor’s hashrateindex.com, as of October 23, the hashrate was recorded at 729.13 EH/s. This level of computational power is a testament to the increasing scale and efficiency of Bitcoin mining operations around the world, even as profitability becomes more elusive for miners.
Despite the growing difficulty and robust hashrate, mining Bitcoin is currently less profitable than in previous months. The hashprice, a metric representing the daily earnings of one petahash per second (PH/s) of computational power, has fallen to $45.85. This decline in profitability is partly due to the recent dip in Bitcoin’s price, which dropped below $67,000, down 1.5% on the day. As mining becomes more challenging and less lucrative, miners will need to carefully weigh the costs of running their operations against the potential future rewards.
The mining landscape is now more competitive than ever, with the top five mining pools—Foundry USA, Antpool, Viabtc, F2pool, and Mara Pool—dominating the market. These pools control significant portions of the network’s total hashrate, but smaller and independent miners may struggle to keep up with the rising costs of hardware, electricity, and maintenance. The next difficulty adjustment could further intensify the pressure on these miners, pushing them to seek more efficient operations or risk being priced out of the market.
Looking ahead, the difficulty level is expected to continue climbing, with some experts predicting it could soon surpass 100 trillion. As this threshold approaches, the barriers to entry for Bitcoin mining will become even higher, making it increasingly difficult for new or smaller miners to remain profitable. However, for those with access to cutting-edge technology and low-cost energy sources, the rewards could still be substantial, especially if Bitcoin’s price rebounds.