As a seasoned crypto investor with years of experience in the market, I find the recent negative adjustment in Bitcoin’s mining difficulty intriguing. This is particularly significant given that the last time we saw such a large drop was during the height of the bear market in December 2022.


Since December 2022’s bear market, the Bitcoin mining network has undergone its most substantial decrease in mining difficulty.

Based on Bitbo’s real-time Bitcoin data, the mining difficulty decreased by approximately 5.7% to reach 83.1 trillion at block height 842,688 on Thursday.

Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Negatively Adjusts

As a crypto investor, I can explain that Bitcoin’s mining difficulty refers to how complex it becomes to add a new block to the Bitcoin blockchain. When more miners join the network, the competition intensifies, making it harder and more time-consuming to find the solution for creating a new block. Conversely, when the number of active miners decreases, the mining process becomes less challenging, allowing other miners to have an easier time producing new blocks.

As a researcher studying the intricacies of cryptocurrency mining, I can explain that the mining difficulty undergoes an adjustment every 2,016 blocks, approximately every two weeks. This mechanism is designed to maintain a consistent production rate for new blocks, averaging ten minutes between each block, regardless of the number of active miners in the network.

Approximately 1.5 years ago, Bitcoin experienced a price decrease akin to its current one, with the cryptocurrency’s value being around $17,000. Presently, Bitcoin is being traded at approximately $61,700.

It’s worth noting that according to recent reports from crypto derivatives exchange Bitget, there has been a predicted significant decrease in Bitcoin’s mining difficulty. This drop is attributed to a decline of around 10% in the Bitcoin network hash rate. However, contrasting data from on-chain analysis conducted by Bitget indicates that the mining difficulty may only decrease by approximately 4%.

Moreover, Bitget noted that the decrease in mining difficulty could shift the equilibrium between miner profits and expenses, implying that the financial landscape is evolving.

Miners Face Lesser Struggles

After the fourth Bitcoin halving concluded approximately three weeks ago, reducing miner rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC, a new adjustment to Bitcoin mining difficulty has been implemented. This change may make mining blocks somewhat less challenging than during the previous two weeks, providing miners with some relief following the halving event.

As an analyst, I have observed that Bitcoin’s mining difficulty experienced two distinct increases following the halving event. Specifically, there was a rise of approximately 4% before the halving and another 2% after it, bringing the total to a record-breaking level of around 88.1 trillion.

It is uncertain how miners will adapt to the present cryptocurrency landscape with Bitcoin’s hash rate, mining difficulty, and transaction fees experiencing declines.

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2024-05-09 18:28