Just days before a pivotal halving event, Bitcoin mining difficulty has soared to a record 86.4 trillion, reflecting intensified efforts by miners to solve blocks under increasingly complex conditions. This surge, a 3.4% increase from the previous adjustment, sets a new benchmark as the industry braces for reduced miner earnings.

Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Hits Record High as Industry Anticipates Halving Impact

Bitcoin mining difficulty and hash rate continue to rise ahead of the halving, a big industry event scheduled for eight days, Cointelegraph reported.

According to BTC.com, the difficulty of Bitcoin mining has increased again before the halving, reaching a new all-time high of 86.4 trillion.

The most recent modification, made on April 10, upped the Bitcoin mining difficulty by 3.4% from the previous difficulty level of 83 trillion, established on March 28.

The difficulty of mining Bitcoin (BTC) continues to rise ahead of the historic halving event, which is expected to reduce miner earnings by 50%.

The newest Bitcoin mining difficulty adjustment is likely the final one before the halving.

Upcoming Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Adjustment Aligns with Imminent Halving Event

According to BTC.com, the next Bitcoin mining difficulty adjustment will occur in 13 days, or around April 24. Meanwhile, M2 data predicts that Bitcoin will be halved in eight days, on April 19.

Bitcoin mining difficulty measures how difficult and time-consuming it is to mine a new block or solve mathematical problems using Bitcoin's proof-of-work consensus process.

Bitcoin's mining difficulty level is self-adjusted every 2,016 blocks, or approximately every two weeks, to maintain a goal block time of 10 minutes.

The mining difficulty is directly proportional to the Bitcoin blockchain hash rate, a statistic that measures miners' processing power to generate new BTC.

In keeping with the increasing difficulty of Bitcoin mining, the BTC hash rate has lately increased significantly, rising from roughly 619 exahashes per second (EH/s) on March 28 to 696 EH/s on April 10, according to BTC.com.

BitInfoCharts said the Bitcoin hash rate peaked at 727.9 EH/s on March 24.

Bitcoin Halving 2024: Potential Hash Rate Decline as Miners Face Efficiency Challenges

Some analysts believe the BTC hash rate will fall following the upcoming Bitcoin halving in 2024.

According to Galaxy's mining researchers, as much as 20% of Bitcoin's current hash rate may go offline following the halving, as many miners are anticipated to turn off their mining rigs due to reduced efficiency.

The researchers claimed by the end of 2023, eight ASIC miner models would have produced more than 70% of the Bitcoin hash rate.

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