Bitcoin's Seven-Day Hashrate Reaches Record High, Intensifying Mining Competition

According to CryptoPotato, Luxor Technology’s HashRateIndex reported on May 29 that Bitcoin’s seven-day hashrate reached a record high of 659 exahashes per second (EH/s). This marks a 13.6% increase from its post-halving low of 580 EH/s. Additionally, the average network hashrate reached a record high of 732 EH/s over the weekend, as per Bitinfocharts. This increase in network power signifies a more challenging environment for Bitcoin miners as each block becomes more difficult and competitive to mine. However, high hashrates also imply enhanced network security for the Bitcoin blockchain. HashRateIndex suggested that the hashrate growth could be a sign that public Bitcoin miners are activating their ASIC orders as planned. This implies that more potent hardware is being utilized, intensifying the competition as more hash power becomes available. The current average block time is a rapid 9 minutes and 26 seconds. The top public miners have had 76.6 EH/s worth of equipment on order for 2024. Of this, 12.9 EH/s should have been delivered in Q1, and nearly 36 EH/s should have been delivered in Q2. The platform also predicted that the current surge in hashrate will result in a significant upward difficulty adjustment in about 8 days. The difficulty adjustment is estimated to be +5.97%. Difficulty is a measure of competitiveness among miners on the network. It is currently 84.38T after falling from a record high of 88.1T earlier this month. Another upward adjustment will mean more challenges for miners. Hashprice, a measure of how much a miner can expect to earn from a specific quantity of hash rate, is currently just $53 per petahash per second per day and has fallen 46% since the beginning of the year. Hashprices peaked at $400/PH/s/day during the crypto market cycle peak in 2021 but have dropped 87% as mining profits decrease amid increasing competition, energy and hardware costs, and network hashrates. This has led large mining companies to seek out cheaper energy in countries in Africa and Scandinavia.