4 years ago, Bitcoin’s hashrate (BTC) exceeded the 100 EH/s threshold for the first time. Even after this level, which has since been surpassed by many, the network has continued to become more secure with each passing day. Let’s take a look at the data.
Bitcoin mining celebrates a special anniversary
When it comes to talking about the robustness of the Bitcoin blockchain (BTC), two closely related statistics come to the fore: hashrate and mining difficulty. The former is no more and no less than the computing power deployed on the network, while the latter is precisely adapted to the latter so as not to make block production too easy, thus ensuring Bitcoin’s stability.
Historical data shows a virtuous circle for security. As new miners join the network, these players tend to use increasingly powerful machines to remain competitive. As a result, the difficulty of mining increases, making Bitcoin ever more robust.
It was thanks to this model that around four years ago now, in September 2019, the Bitcoin network surpassed the symbolic 100 EH/s milestone for the first time, as the network’s eleventh birthday approached:
Figure 1 – Bitcoin miners surpass 100 EH/s
An increasingly robust network
Even after this milestone was passed, miners continued to deploy more and more power. However, just when it seemed that Bitcoin would never again fall below 100 EH/s, something changed: China.
And with good reason: when the Chinese government banned mining in the country in the spring of 2021, it completely reshuffled the deck among miners, causing hashrate to plummet for several months as a direct result of the unplugged machines. According to CoinWarz data, the hashrate even temporarily fell back below 70 EH/s on June 28, 2021, a level not seen for over 2 years.
Today, Bitcoin has largely recovered, and miners are now deploying computing power in excess of 400 EH/s. On September 15, the hashrate briefly exceeded 500 EH/s, with an all-time peak of just over 527 :
Figure 2 – Bitcoin hashrate history
At the same time, the difficulty of mining is also increasing, steadily pushing back its all-time high, today at 57.12 T :
Figure 3 – History of Bitcoin mining difficulty
Beyond the simple price of BTC and the bear market, all these statistics show that miners are far from “unplugging their machines”, despite energy costs that can put pressure on their cash flow. At the time of writing, BTC was trading at $27,300
