Bitcoin hash rate spikes as analysts say miners are coming back online

Bitcoin’s (BTC) hash rate rose to an all-time high of 398 terahashes per second (TH/s) on March 23, with analysts speculating that miners are starting to turn their rigs back on as BTC’s price rises.

According to data aggregator YCharts, the Bitcoin network’s hash rate fell to 344.63 TH/s as of March 27, up from 335.32 TH/s on March 26, but still up from 178.77 TH/s a year ago.

In a March 26 mailSam Wouters, a research analyst at Bitcoin financial services provider River Financial, speculated that the increase in the hash rate is linked to unused mining inventory coming online, new facilities operating and entrepreneurs finding cheap sources of mining.

“While Bitcoin’s price was so low and as much inventory as possible was brought online last year, at some point the maximum capacity of what the network could handle was reached,” he said.

“Now that the price has risen again and some time has passed, more of this inventory has been able to go online,” Wouters added.

In addition, Wouters says that Hydro models are starting to enter the market with “250+ TH/s per machine, which gives a huge hash rate.”

A March 20 analysis by investment banking firm Stifel shared a similar sentiment, speculating that the recent surge may be linked to miners bringing hardware back online.

“We expect the overall network hashrate to continue climbing higher as a result of attractively priced hardware being bought up by well-capitalized miners.”

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Nazar Khan of Bitcoin mining company TeraWulf explained that the company is currently maximizing the hash rate of all its rigs and has recently brought more online at its new Nautilus Cryptomine facility.

“Wulf has the opportunity to add 80 MW of capacity at LMD and 50 MW at Nautilus. The recent price movement is indicative of the long-term value of the opportunity to expand at low-cost energy sites,” Khan said.

According to Khan, while some have speculated that the lower prices forced miners to shut down their rigs and wait for the BTC price to improve, TeraWulf was able to continue mining Bitcoin at lower price levels due to their lost costs from ” efficient mining fleets.”

Related: Crypto Miner Explains How Bitcoin Mining Stabilizes Grids

However, regardless of the reason for the spike, Khan says that TeraWulf does not expect the network’s hash rate to continue to increase throughout the first half of the year, regardless of the BTC price.

“There is a lag between when investment decisions are made and when that capacity comes online,” Khan explained.

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