Bitcoin mining difficulty reaches new record on the eve of halving

On Wednesday night (10), Bitcoin mining difficulty registered a significant increase of 3.9%, reaching a new all-time high in the final adjustment before the expected halving, scheduled for April 20th.

The difficulty adjustment occurred during the mining of block 838,656, reaching a record value of 86.39 trillion, as reported by blockchain explorer Mempool. The adjustment, which took place on April 10, increased Bitcoin’s mining difficulty by 3.4% from the previous level of 83 trillion on March 28.

This increase suggests that Bitcoin miners are stepping up their activities in preparation for the reduction in block rewards. At halving, rewards will drop from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC.

Bitcoin mining difficulty

Bitcoin mining difficulty is an indicator that measures the complexity of extracting a new block in relation to the simplest possible block.

This value is adjusted every 2016 blocks, which occurs approximately every two weeks. The objective of the adjustment is to ensure that, on average, a new block is found every 10 minutes, regardless of the number of active miners.

Therefore, the greater the Bitcoin mining difficulty, the more computational power and energy are needed to find the correct hash for the next block.

Before the difficulty adjustment, Bitcoin’s hash rate, which represents the total computing power dedicated to the network by miners, reached a new all-time seven-day moving average record, reaching 629.75 EH/s, according to data from The Block.

Since the beginning of the year, both Bitcoin mining difficulty and hash rate have increased significantly. Difficulty rose 20% and total hash rate gained 24% during the period.

Bitcoin’s hash price, which represents the expected value of 1 TH/s of hashing power per day, dropped to $0.11/TH/s after the difficulty adjustment and is expected to be halved immediately after the halving.

The Bitcoin halving is a highly anticipated event by the crypto community because it usually directly interferes with the price of the cryptocurrency, making it appreciate in value. At the same time, it affects miner rewards. So, they also pay close attention to the event and plan for it.

Bitcoin’s latest mining difficulty adjustment is likely the last to happen before the halving. According to data from the BTC.com portal, Bitcoin’s next mining difficulty adjustment will take place in 13 days, or around April 24th. Meanwhile, the halving should take place around April 20th.