Bitcoin Hashrate Hits New All-Time High, Exacerbating Profitability Challenges for Miners
The hashrate of the Bitcoin (BTC) network has reached a new all-time high, putting additional pressure on miners who are already grappling with a slump in profitability.
According to data from Blockchain.com and Bitinfocharts, Bitcoin’s hashrate soared to a record-breaking 544 exahashes per second (EH/s) on Christmas Day.
Throughout the year, network hash rates have more than doubled, witnessing a remarkable 130% increase since January.
Interestingly, this surge in hashrate has been accompanied by a parallel rise in Bitcoin’s price, which has surged by over 150% since the beginning of 2023.
The summer 2021 mining ban in China, which disrupted a significant portion of the Bitcoin mining industry, seems to have had little lasting impact on the network’s hash rate.
Will Clemente, co-founder of Reflexivity Research, said that the ban was “barely a blip” and emphasizing the resilience of the decentralized monetary network.
Looking at Bitcoin's hash rate on log scale is pretty wild. The summer 2021 China mining ban is barely a blip.
Imagine fading the most secure decentralized open-source monetary network on the planet, couldn't be me. pic.twitter.com/PnaiVj3w85
— Will (@WClementeIII) December 22, 2023
While a high hashrate is favorable for theoretical price models and overall network security, it presents challenges for individual miners.
As the hash rate increases, miners are required to put in more effort to secure the next block, leading to higher operational costs.
In recent weeks, profitability, as measured by hash price, has declined as the hype around BRC-20 ordinal inscriptions has cooled off.
Currently standing at $0.09 per terahashes per second per day, the hash price has witnessed a 34% decrease since
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