Bitcoin’s Significant Adjustment: Mining Difficulty Hits 18-Month Low – What’s Next For Miners?

Samuel Edyme

1 year ago

3 mins read

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The Bitcoin mining difficulty has experienced a significant decrease, the largest drop observed in the last 18 months. This change is directly tied to fluctuations in the network’s hash rate, which has dipped below 600 EH/s following the recent halving event.

The adjustment, which marks a 5.7% fall in mining difficulty, brings the level down to 83.1 trillion, according to data from Bitbo.

Bitcoin Mining Difficulty History Chart. | Source: Bitbo

This most substantial adjustment since December 2022 reflects broader shifts within the Bitcoin mining landscape. At that time, Bitcoin’s price hovered around $17,000, contrasting sharply with current levels.

Notably, the mining difficulty, a metric that determines how challenging it is to find a new block, adjusts approximately every two weeks, or every 2016 blocks. This system ensures that block discovery remains consistent at around every 10 minutes, irrespective of the number of miners.

Impact On Miners And Market Dynamics

The recent decline in mining difficulty came after a 10% drop in the network’s hash rate from a seven-day moving average of 639.58 EH/s to 581.74 EH/s.

Bitcoin network hash rate 7DMA. | Source: Hashrate Index

This decrease in hash rate led to longer average block times of about 10 minutes and 36 seconds, up from the standard 10 minutes, before the difficulty adjusted downward at block height 842,688.

The reduced hash rate also contributed to a new low in the hash price, which fell to roughly $0.049 per TH/s per day.

Bitcoin Hashprice Index. | Source: Hashrate Index

This decline impacts miners’ profitability, as the hash price, a term introduced by Bitcoin mining firm Luxor, represents the earnings a miner can expect per unit of hashing power per day.

However, today’s negative difficulty adjustment may provide some relief for miners, making it easier to mine blocks than in the previous two weeks.

Bitcoin Market Reactions And Investment Trends

The adjustments in mining difficulty and hash rate come when Bitcoin’s price also shows signs of volatility. After reaching a peak above $73,000 in March, the price has fallen by 16% and is now trading around $61,376.

Bitcoin (BTC) price chart on TradingView — BTC price is moving sideways on the 4-hour chart. Source: BTC/USDT on TradingView.com

This decline mirrors the broader trend in the mining difficulty, suggesting a possible correlation between these metrics.

Furthermore, the market has observed subdued activity in the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Data from Soso Value indicates minimal net inflows or outflows, with Bitwise Bitcoin ETF being the only issuer that experienced inflows yesterday.

On May 8, the total net inflow of Bitcoin spot ETF was $11.5409 million. Grayscale ETF GBTC has no inflows and outflows. Bitwise ETF BITB saw a single-day net inflow of $11.5409 million. The total net asset value of Bitcoin spot ETFs is $51.504 billion. https://t.co/OkjFkXsACa

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) May 9, 2024

This trend could signify a cooling interest in Bitcoin investments or a shift in investor strategy following the recent price and mining adjustments.

Feature image from Unsplash, Chart from TradingView

Samuel Edyme

Meet Samuel Edyme, Nickname - HIM-buktu. A web3 content writer, journalist, and aspiring trader, Edyme is as versatile as they come. With a knack for words and a nose for trends, he has penned pieces for numerous industry player, including AMBCrypto, Blockchain.News, and Blockchain Reporter, among others.

Edyme’s foray into the crypto universe is nothing short of cinematic. His journey began not with a triumphant investment, but with a scam. Yes, a Ponzi scheme that used crypto as payment roped him in. Rather than retreating, he emerged wiser and more determined, channeling his experience into over three years of insightful market analysis.

Before becoming the voice of reason in the crypto space, Edyme was the quintessential crypto degen. He aped into anything that promised a quick buck, anything ape-able, learning the ropes the hard way. These hands-on experience through major market events—like the Terra Luna crash, the wave of bankruptcies in crypto firms, the notorious FTX collapse, and even CZ’s arrest—has honed his keen sense of market dynamics.

When he isn’t crafting engaging crypto content, you’ll find Edyme backtesting charts, studying both forex and synthetic indices. His dedication to mastering the art of trading is as relentless as his pursuit of the next big story. Away from his screens, he can be found in the gym, airpods in, working out and listening to his favorite artist, NF. Or maybe he’s catching some Z’s or scrolling through Elon Musk’s very own X platform—(oops, another screen activity, my bad…)

Well, being an introvert, Edyme thrives in the digital realm, preferring online interaction over offline encounters—(don’t judge, that’s just how he is built). His determination is quite unwavering to be honest, and he embodies the philosophy of continuous improvement, or “kaizen,” striving to be 1% better every day. His mantras, “God knows best” and “Everything is still on track,” reflect his resilient outlook and how he lives his life.

In a nutshell, Samuel Edyme was born efficient, driven by ambition, and perhaps a touch fierce. He’s neither artistic nor unrealistic, and certainly not chauvinistic. Think of him as Bruce Willis in a train wreck—unflappable. Edyme is like trading in your car for a jet—bold. He’s the guy who’d ask his boss for a pay cut just to prove a point—(uhhh…). He is like watching your kid take his first steps. Imagine Bill Gates struggling with rent—okay, maybe that’s a stretch, but you get the idea, yeah. Unbelievable? Yes. Inconceivable? Perhaps.

Edyme sees himself as a fairly reasonable guy, albeit a bit stubborn. Normal to you is not to him. He is not the one to take the easy road, and why would he? That’s just not the way he roll. He has these favorite lyrics from NF’s “Clouds” that resonate deeply with him: “What you think's probably unfeasible, I've done already a hundredfold.”

PS—Edyme is HIM. HIM-buktu. Him-mulation. Him-Kardashian. Himon and Pumba. He even had his DNA tested, and guess what? He’s 100% Him-alayan. Screw it, he ate the opp.

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