Bitcoin Network Difficulty Drops To 27,693T As Hash Rate Eyes Restore

by · July 22, 2022

The difficulty to mine a block of Bitcoin (BTC) decreased another 5% to 27.693 trillion as the network difficulty maintains its three-month downward streak ever since hitting an all-time high of 31.251 trillion back in May 2022.

Network difficulty is a means developed by Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto to ensure the legitimacy of all transactions that use raw computing power. The reduced difficulty allows Bitcoin miners to confirm transactions using lower resources, giving smaller miners a fighting chance to earn the mining rewards.

Despite the minor setback, zooming in on blockchain.com’s data reveals that Bitcoin continues to function as the most resilient and immutable blockchain network. While the difficulty adjustment is directly proportional to the hash power of miners, the overall hash rate (TH/s) recovered 3.2% along similar timelines, as shown below.

At its peak, the Bitcoin hash rate reached an all-time high of 231.428 exahash per second (EH/s) when BTC prices fell to $25,000 last month in June – raising immediate concerns about widespread power consumption.

Ever since China banned all crypto trading and mining in June 2021, the US picked up the slack in becoming the highest contributor to the global Bitcoin hash rate. However, Chinese miners resumed operations in September 2021. According to Statista data, the United States represents 37.84% of the global hash rate, followed by China at 21.11% and Kazakhstan at 13.22%.

Earlier, Cointelegraph reported that a sharp drop in GPU prices has opened a small window of opportunity for small miners to acquire a piece of more powerful and efficient mining equipment. That said, miners see falling GPU prices as a means to offset their operating costs amid an ongoing bear market.

Related: Sustainable Bitcoin Mining Power Mix Reaches 59.5%: BTC Mining Council

To ease concerns related to exorbitant power consumption, a report released by the Bitcoin Mining Council revealed that nearly 60% of the electricity used for BTC mining comes from sustainable sources.

The study also found that BTC mining accounted for only 0.09% of the 34.8 billion tons of carbon emissions estimated to be produced globally and consumed only 0.15% of the global energy supply.