Bitcoin hash rate hits new peak as miners feel the pressure Cryptocurrency scrgruppen

The “power” of the Bitcoin network continues to rise, which is good news for its security but bad news for miners who now face more competition than ever.

Bitcoin hash rate reached a new peak on October 12 at 447 exahashes per second, according to Blockchain.com.

Bitinfocharts has a slightly higher average of 481 EH/s, but they both agree that it is the highest record ever.

Another all-time high for Bitcoin hash rate: pic.twitter.com/ERhI5g12Hs

– Will Clemente (@WClementeIII) October 12, 2023

Pressure on miners

Hashrat has He went up 77% since the beginning of this year and up 170% since the peak of the bull market in November 2021. This means that it is now more difficult than ever to mine the next block in the chain.

Furthermore it, the next difficulty In a few days the adjustment could reach +7.4%. Difficulty is a measure of competition between miners, and is also at an all-time high of 57.3T.

The net effect is a decrease in mining profitability, also known as the hash price. The hash rate, which refers to the expected value of 1 TH/s of hash power per day, fell to $0.06 per TH/s per day.

This is down 85% since the peak of the bull market of $0.40 per TH/s per day as mining profitability declines.

Bitcoin miners are currently being hit with the triple whammy of high hashrates and difficulty, falling asset prices, and rising energy costs.

Furthermore, JP Morgan expects retail rates to fall by 20% after the next halving in late April or early May.

“Not all miners are created equal. Miners vary by size, operational efficiency, access to capital and growth prospects. We believe CLSK, our top pick, offers the best balance between size, growth potential, energy costs and relative value. MARA is the largest operator but has the highest.. . pic.twitter.com/Jj3CseRI6M

– S. Matthew Schultz (@smatthewschultz) October 11, 2023

Earlier this week, trader Oliver Velez noted that the US has the largest share of global hashes at 40%. Furthermore, asset management giant BlackRock has invested in several of the largest Bitcoin mining companies – Riot Platforms, Digital Marathonmining ciphers, cottage 8, And Terawolf. It also lent money to bankrupt bitcoin mining company Core Scientific in December.

“It is clear that the United States is playing to win the retail war,” he said.

The United States now owns 40% of #Bitcoin Hash rate. BlackRock is now one of the largest holders of publicly traded stocks#Bitcoin Miners.

The US is clearly playing to win the retail war. Although these numbers seem large, all publicly traded Bitcoin miners combined… pic.twitter.com/2LhVC3BrY1

– Oliver L Velez 13%’er Bitcoiner (@olvelez007) October 11, 2023

BTC price forecast

If Bitcoin prices don’t improve soon, there could be another capitulation for miners. The upcoming halving in about six months will double the headache for miners as the block reward is halved.

Bitcoin prices were expected to reach around $90,000 for mining to remain profitable at current levels.

However, the markets are going in the opposite direction at the moment. Bitcoin remains without change On the day at $26,844; However, it has lost 4% since the end of last week.

There is strong support at the $26,000 level, which could be where it heads in the short term.