In a rather gloomy global context, Bitcoin (BTC) mining difficulty reached a new record over the weekend. We tell you why it’s notable
Historic record for Bitcoin (BTC) mining difficulty
As prices continue to fall, there is one indicator related to the Bitcoin network that continues to rise: the difficulty of mining. This is what the data on the BTC.com website, which models this evolution, reveals.
The month of January saw the difficulty of generating a block on the Bitcoin network rise to 26,640 billion, an increase of 9.32%. A value that exceeds the record of May 2021, before China’s ban on cryptocurrency mining.
This development has also been almost constant in recent months:
Evolution of Bitcoin (BTC) network mining difficulty (Source: BTC.com)
Indeed, the difficulty of mining has only dropped once in November last year, when the price of BTC fell after its all-time high.
Why is the difficulty increasing?
The difficulty is increasing because the number of miners is increasing, and with them the computing power (called hashrate) they provide to the network. The difficulty of mining must therefore constantly adjust up or down according to the hashrate. Without this, the blocks in the Bitcoin network would be mined too fast, or too slow, which would call into question the stability of the network. All this allows the network to keep a regular block production time. The average hashrate is now 188.63 EH/s.
All in all, increasing mining difficulty is good news for Bitcoin. Indeed, although this has no (or very indirect) impact on its price, the more difficult the mining is, the more secure the network becomes. And all of this is due to the increased decentralisation caused by the growing number of miners. And we know that decentralisation is one of the most used arguments to justify the interest of the largest cryptocurrency.
This increase in difficulty also shows one thing: despite the consequent fall in the price of crypto-assets, with BTC reaching $34,000 this morning, the mining network continues to be attractive. This is therefore evidence of the long-term health of cryptocurrency.
