Bitcoin (BTC) mining difficulty dropped to 1.467 trillion on Friday, while the network hash rate— the average total computing power used to secure this decentralized protocol— reached a historic high of over 1.2 trillion hashes per second.
According to CoinWarz data, the BTC mining difficulty decreased by about 2.7% from the historical peak of over 1.508 trillion reached in the previous adjustment cycle.
However, CryptoQuant data shows that the network hash rate hit a record high on Tuesday, and although it has slightly decreased from Tuesday's historic peak, it remains above the high level of 1.2 trillion. CoinWarz also predicts:
The increase in hash rate indicates that miners must invest more computing resources to add blocks to the Bitcoin ledger, putting greater pressure on struggling miners who are dealing with issues such as trade policies, reduced block rewards, and competition.
Mining companies continue to seek alternative revenue sources to compensate for the shortfall in digital currency mining, including diversifying into AI data centers and other forms of high-performance computing.
Core Scientific, Hut 8, and IREN are reallocating resources to AI data centers in 2024 to increase profits and reduce reliance on cryptocurrency mining revenue.
However, the shift towards AI data centers has created tension between miners and AI infrastructure providers, as both energy-intensive industries compete for cheap energy to power their operations.
Despite the addition of new revenue sources, the mining industry still faces regulatory challenges and ongoing supply chain issues, which stem from the comprehensive trade tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The tariffs have increased the cost of obtaining mining hardware in jurisdictions affected by these product tariffs, putting miners in those areas at a competitive disadvantage compared to miners who can acquire mining machines without additional tariff costs.
Furthermore, if trade tensions between the U.S. and China continue to escalate, export controls on computer processors, chips, and other electronic products may make hardware more difficult to obtain.
Related: Ethereum attracted over 16,000 new developers in 9 months
Original article: “Bitcoin (BTC) mining difficulty briefly drops, but soaring hash rate suggests good times may not last”
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