Bitcoin Network’s Hash Rate and Mining Difficulty Reach New All-Time Highs

Amid a turbulent month, the Bitcoin hash rate and mining difficulty have both reached new highs. The mining difficulty of Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, has topped 29.79 trillion for the first time in its history. Bitcoin has steadily risen to $39k, despite an onslaught of sellers. The mining difficulty has increased by almost 30% from a year ago when it was at 23.58 trillion.

According to data from CoinMetrics, the Bitcoin network now performs an average of 223.20 exahashes per second (EH/s) as computers compete to win the bitcoin mining lottery and submit the next valid block. According to data from BTC.com, the Bitcoin mining difficulty has also reached a new high, alongside the hash rate.

In under two months, the Bitcoin hash rate dropped from 180.82 EH/s to 84.79 EH/s. Source: Coin Metrics

The network hash rate of Bitcoin, on the other hand, changed dramatically in lockstep with its price. On the same day, it reached an all-time high of almost 258 EH/s before settling at around 222.68 EH/s. BTC.com data also revealed that Foundry USA led the chart, delivering 17.05 percent of total hash power. AntPool had 14.28 percent, F2Pool had 13.86 percent, Poolin had 12.58 percent, ViaBTC had 11.73 percent, Binance had 11.30 percent, and so on.

Last year, as China moved closer to a complete ban on the mining sector, much was made of the Bitcoin network hash rate. As a result, the hash rate of the Bitcoin network began to decrease. Bitcoin, on the other hand, began to shine as miners moved their operations to more friendly governments overseas.

The implied hash rate of the Bitcoin network over the past year. Source: Coin Metrics

In the three months following the Chinese ban on mining, the Bitcoin hash rate increased by over 70% and had fully recovered by the end of the year, reaching a new all-time high of 181.77 EH/s in early December. This development comes as the crypto market struggled to garner significant traction in recent months.

Furthermore, wallets with more than 1K BTC have seen a strong increasing trend, which could indicate that significant players are starting to re-accumulate. The Bitcoin hash rate is at an all-time high, having risen by more than 160 percent since then.

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