On Wednesday, Bitcoin reached a new milestone as its mining difficulty increased by 3.4% at block height 792,288, setting a fresh record. The difficulty level surpassed the 50 trillion mark for the first time in Bitcoin’s history, hitting an unparalleled 51.23 trillion.
Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Jumps 3.4% Higher
Data reveals that around 373 exahash per second (EH/s) of hashrate is committed to the Bitcoin blockchain, and the network’s hashpower has been consistently growing. For instance, on May 2, 2023, at block 787,895, the network’s hashrate reached an all-time high of 491.15 EH/s. Due to this escalated hashrate and quicker block intervals, the difficulty rose by 3.22% on May 18 at block height 790,272.
The most recent difficulty adjustment transpired at block height 792,288 with a 3.4% increase. The difficulty climbed from 49.55 trillion to the present 51.23 trillion after Wednesday’s surge. This is the first time Bitcoin has registered a difficulty above the 50 trillion mark; the figure of 51.23 trillion represents the lowest value a computed hash must be below for a miner to successfully mine a new block.
This change signifies that discovering a BTC block has never been more challenging; due to increased difficulties in mining, it now necessitates heightened computational power and resources to find a valid hash and secure mining rewards. Currently, Foundry USA is the leading mining pool contributing the most hashrate to the network with 114.75 EH/s and commanding 30.26% of the total hashrate on May 31.
Following Foundry’s lead include the mining pools Antpool (79.75 EH/s), F2pool (55.34 EH/s), Binance Pool (34.99 EH/s), and Viabtc (29.30 EH/s). The network recorded an average hashrate of roughly 366 EH/s throughout the last 2,016 blocks. The next difficulty adjustment on the Bitcoin network is slated to take place around June 14, 2023. Despite the rising mining difficulty, bitcoin miners carry on undeterred, and the overall network hashrate continues to remain constant, indicating an unwavering trend of activity.
