Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Reaches Record High
Date: 2024-12-17 Author: Henry Casey Categories: CRYPTO PAYMENTS
On December 16, 2024, Bitcoin mining difficulty updated its historical maximum, increasing by 4.43% and reaching 108.52 trillion. This means that more than 108 trillion calculations are required to mine one block and receive a reward of 3.125 BTC. A year ago, the figure was at 72 trillion, indicating a 50% increase over the past 12 months. The increase in difficulty is directly related to the connection of additional equipment for cryptocurrency mining.
Automatic change in difficulty occurs every two weeks. The adjustment mechanism is designed to maintain a stable rate of emission of new bitcoins, despite the increase in the computing power of the network.
Additional confirmation of the increased activity of miners is the rapid growth of the hashrate, reflecting the overall performance of devices operating in the network. As of December 16, the average weekly hashrate reached 786 EH/s, and on December 13, the figure briefly rose to 878 EH/s.
However, along with the increase in complexity, there was a decrease in mining profitability. The Bitcoin Hashprice Index fell by 5.7%, falling from $65.71 to $61.95. This index shows the income that a miner can receive for 1 PH/s of computing power per day. Despite the drop in profitability, the overall figure remains higher than the previous week's values due to the growth of the Bitcoin rate. On the night of December 16, BTC set a new record at $ 106.6 thousand, and by 12:00 Moscow time, the coin price fell to $ 104.6 thousand, showing a daily increase of 2.5%.
In the period from December 2 to 16, miners mined a total of 6,258 new bitcoins, according to Blockchain.com. However, the volume of production is significantly inferior to demand, especially from Bitcoin ETFs. Over two weeks, net capital inflow into US spot ETFs amounted to $4.9 billion, which is equivalent to 49 thousand BTC, according to SoSoValue.
In addition, corporations are showing growing interest in Bitcoin. Companies, including large miners, are increasingly choosing a strategy of accumulating BTC, following the example of MicroStrategy. Using borrowed funds, they continue to increase their cryptocurrency reserves, which increases pressure on the supply of the first cryptocurrency.
Thus, the record difficulty of mining, the growth of the hash rate and the increase in demand for Bitcoin are creating new challenges and opportunities for market participants.
