Bitcoin has been navigating choppy waters. Despite the recent drop in price, the Bitcoin network has reached a new high, this time in terms of mining difficulty.
According to the latest data from CoinWarz, bitcoin difficulty increased by 5% to 27.97 trillion on February 18. Within three weeks, the value has already changed positively twice, with the first increase being 26.64 trillion on January 21.
By comparison, since November 28, 2021, the mining difficulty level has increased six times in a row. This means that since then it has become more than 23% more difficult for miners on the Bitcoin network to confirm a block and receive a block reward.
Over the next two weeks, Bitcoin’s mining difficulty will remain at 27.97 trillion. A year ago, it was at 21.55 trillion before dropping four straight times and hitting a low of 13.67 trillion six months later. The rise since then has been quite impressive and shows that the network’s miners are struggling significantly to find a block.
CryptoPotato had previously reported that the network’s hash rate had reached a new high. Since then, the numbers have not shown any abrupt changes and continue to hover near the peak.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin’s hash rate stands at 212.7 exa-hashes per second. According to BTC.com statistics, Foundry USA has contributed the most hash power, 17.8%. AntPool and F2Pool were tied with 15.6% hash power, followed by Binance Pool, which contributed 13.3%.
The Conundrum
In a worrying sign of the ongoing correction, Bitcoin miners are abandoning their pockets. The cryptocurrency is currently trading around $41K, down about 40% since hitting its ATH last year. As a result, miners have gone from net holders to net sellers, as shown in the Glassnode chart.
This is because the return on investment has fallen more than the price of BTC. As profit margins shrink, bitcoin miners are in a quandary over whether to fund their mining efforts or keep the BTC. A high hashrate is a milestone for the network, but this has been another factor contributing to the lower profitability of mining.
Source: CryptoPotato
