Bitcoin Network Sees Surge in Mining Difficulty, Pressuring Smaller Miners

• Bitcoin mining difficulty rises to 95.67T, marking a 27% increase in 2024, challenging small miners.
• Record high hashrate of over 700 EH/s aligns with Bitcoin’s rising mining difficulty, boosting network security.
• Small miners face profitability issues as operational costs soar due to Bitcoin’s increasing difficulty levels.

Bitcoin’s mining difficulty has reached a new peak of 95.67 terahashes (T), according to Glassnode data . The metric rose by 3.9% on Tuesday, signaling increasing challenges for miners. 

The mining difficulty is the level of complexity in verifying a new block of transactions on Bitcoin’s ledger. In 2024, there were 22 instances of difficulty adjustments, with 13 showing positive growth. Therefore, the difficulty has increased from 72T to 95T, which is 27% higher this year.

Network Adjustments and Hashrate Impact

The difficulty of the Bitcoin algorithm varies and changes after every block of 2,016, that is every two weeks. This modification ensures that there should be a block generated almost every 10 minutes. The recent increase in mining complexity matches a peak hashrate.

This calculation indicates the total amount of computing power dedicated to mining and processing transactions. It reached a record-breaking level of more than 700 exahashes per second (EH/s). The network becomes more secure and efficient as the hashrate increases.

Increasing Pressure on Small Miners

With higher difficulty levels , miners face increased operational costs. This trend makes it challenging, especially for small private miners, to maintain profitability. Many have responded by selling Bitcoin holdings to cover rising expenses or by exiting the network altogether. 

This shift led to a 15% drop in hashrate after the last Bitcoin halving in April. The halving event reduced block rewards, further squeezing miners’ profits.

Fluctuations in Difficulty and Hashrate

The current difficulty rise suggests more miners are joining the network. This trend has pushed the difficulty level up by approximately 20% since its 2024 low of 79T in July. The metric has also surged by 55% since October 2023 when it was at 61T. 

Despite the current all-time high in difficulty, Bitcoin’s hashrate recently declined slightly to 730 EH/s. However, it remains up by 70% compared to the same time last year, showing overall network strength.

The rising difficulty reflects a growing number of miners, signaling robust blockchain performance but also highlighting the challenges faced by smaller mining operators.