Bitcoin mining has reached a historic milestone with its difficulty surging by 7.33% to an all-time high of 75.50 trillion. This figure represents the maximum hash value required for a block to be considered valid.
Considering the current difficulty level of 75.50 trillion, it means that the hash of a valid block must match or be lower than an exceptionally small calculated value among a vast range of hash function values. As this value decreases, the likelihood of a randomly chosen hash falling below it decreases, making it more challenging to discover a valid block.
Currently, the aggregate hash rate is steadily increasing, standing at 536 exahashes per second (EH/s), as indicated by the 7-day simple moving average on hashrateindex.com. This value is slightly below the record high of 566 EH/s, reached on January 29th, 2024.
Examining the mining statistics over three days reveals the dominance of two mining pools, collectively accounting for over 60% of the Bitcoin network's total hash rate. The leader is Foundry US with a hash rate of 173.53 EH/s, representing a 31.94% share, while Antpool occupies the second spot with a hash rate of 159.17 EH/s (29.30%). The next adjustment in mining difficulty is scheduled for February 15th, 2024.