Bitcoin is now harder to mine than ever



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The difficulty of mining a Bitcoin block has risen 3.6% today, marking an all-time high for the network. But the adjustment puts additional pressure on the miners.

While not the most significant jump in difficulty adjustment history, the 3.6% rise took Bitcoin’s total network difficulty to an all-time high of 17.56 trillion (T ). The last time the network difficulty approached this figure was in July.

Bitcoin mining difficulty is adjusted approximately every two weeks. When blocks are extracted too quickly or too slowly, the difficulty adjusts to bring the speed back into line.

An upward adjustment in Bitcoin mining difficulty is usually tied to a similar increase in network hash power – the amount of computing power on the network.

Indeed, on August 15, Bitcoin’s hash rate hit its own record high of 136 exhashs per second (EH / s). After a brief drop the following week, the hash rate dropped back to around 120 EH / s – apparently thanks to floods in china, a prime region for Bitcoin mining due to cheap hydroelectric power. And he’s ready to continue to reach new heights.

Bad news for retail Bitcoin miners?

According to Thomas Heller, COO of Bitcoin mining company HASHR8, the combined increase in hash rate and difficulty could cause problems for less sophisticated miners.

“If the difficulty and hash rate continue to increase, the older generation machines will find it difficult to continue mining,” Heller explained, adding, “The S9 is the most common machine yet mining, and it is still profitable at $ 0.03 / kWh of power available. for accommodation in China right now. However, after October when the rainy season is over and accommodation prices are 0.05 $ / kWh +, it is likely that the S9 will not be profitable at this price. “

By data of BTC.com, the next difficulty adjustment, written for September 7, is expected to result in a further increase, this time of 3.5%, pushing Bitcoin’s network difficulty to yet another all-time high and beyond 18 trillion in territory. There is everything for me.



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