Bitcoin mining difficulty fell more than 5% on July 5 to 79.50 terahash (79.5 T), marking the biggest reduction since March.
Bitcoin mining difficulty drops
BTC difficulty rose between March and May, reaching a record high of 88.10 T. Then, it began to decline to its current level.
Bitcoin mining difficulty refers to the ease with which a miner can mine a block of new coins on the network. When it increases, miners have to work harder to solve the mathematical puzzles that unlock access to the block. When it decreases, the opposite happens. The process simply becomes easier.
The hashrate, a measure of the computing power the network uses to solve puzzles, is updated every 2,016 blocks. Converted to days, that’s about two weeks. Over the life of the Bitcoin network, the hashrate has typically increased month over month, with a few exceptions.
In 2014, the hash rate was around 1.1 gigahash. That was low enough for most personal computers (or more precisely, their graphics cards) to mine bitcoins (the higher the hash rate, the more efficient and power-efficient the hardware must be to make the process profitable). But over time, things began to change. In late 2017, as adoption began to pick up speed, the hash rate reached one terahash for the first time. Since July 6, it has remained at 79.5 T.
What does this all mean for the BTC miner?
You may ask: what does this mean for the “miner”? At the current difficulty level – let me remind you again: 79.5 T – F2Pool estimates that the ASIC with a power of 26 W/T will remain a profitable device. The condition is that the price of bitcoin does not fall. The key level may be 54,000 USD.
What happens if the bitcoin price falls lower? Miners will need more efficient mining rigs to remain profitable.
Currently, one bitcoin costs around $57,750, which means a 2% price jump since yesterday.
