Bitcoin (BTC) Mining Difficulty Hits New Record of 109.78 Trillion, Hashrate Touches 800 EH/s Mark

The mining difficulty of Bitcoin has risen to 109.78 trillion, a new record, after rising by 1.16% in the last adjustment that occurred on Sunday.

Bitcoin’s mining difficulty has increased by 1.16% in the latest adjustment, reaching a new high of 109.78 trillion, according to CoinWarz data. The metric, which showcases the difficulty encountered in solving cryptographic problems for a mining process, has surged by 24% in the last 90 days and 52% in the last 3 months of the year.

Such consistent growth highlights the network’s stability and the increasing competition among miners. These adjustments occur approximately once every two weeks to ensure stable block production, a feature implemented into the Bitcoin system by its anonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto.

The next mining difficulty adjustment is expected on January 14. Initial estimates suggest that the figure might decrease slightly by around 8% to approximately 100.7 trillion. This reduction could ease some of the pressure on miners operating amid volatile markets.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s hashrate, which represents the total computing power of the network, has recently crossed the 800 EH/s mark for the first time. The achievement was noted by Blockchain.com on December 15, indicating strong network fundamentals.

Bitcoin’s price has seen significant波动, hitting highs of $108,135 earlier this month before dropping to $93,638 at the time of writing, according to CoinGecko. Some analysts have observed that price trends may follow the hashrate in the long term, based on analysis of the data.

Bitcoin Miners’ Revenue Rises Despite Hashprice Decline

Bitcoin miners have already surpassed their November earnings, accumulating over $1.33 billion in December with only one day left in the month. In November, the revenue stood at $1.21 billion, with on-chain fees reaching $38.73 million, while December has seen $37.69 million in fees so far. As the year comes to a close with 48 hours left, miners are set to exceed the fees collected in November.

While the hashprice per petahash per second has decreased from $61.78 to $55.57 in the past month, the higher Bitcoin prices and record hashrate of 805 EH/s have prevented the degradation. This enhancement in mining efficiency has led to higher revenue.

A planned adjustment to the mining difficulty on December 29 is expected to cause a slight increase, with an average block interval of 9 minutes and 53 seconds. The network’s current hashing rate is 791.45 EH/s across 65 mining farms, each with a minimum mining power of 286.33 KH/s.

Russia to Ban Crypto Mining in Ten Regions

In other news, the Russian government has announced that cryptocurrency mining will be banned in ten regions for six years due to high energy consumption. The ban will be effective from January 1, 2024, to March 15, 2031, and will also apply to mining pools in the affected regions.

The areas impacted by the ban include Dagestan, North Ossetia, and Chechnya, with the list to be amended over time based on energy requirements. Other measures include a ban in other zones during periods of peak load, as part of the policy.

Russia legalized crypto mining in July, with the law being adopted in August. However, while the country has banned the use of cryptocurrencies in everyday transactions, it permits cross-border payments to avoid sanctions imposed after invading Ukraine.