Bitcoin’s mining difficulty falls again as the 3-month downward streak continues. It is currently at 27.693 trillion, down 5% from the previous difficulty. The all-time high was 31.251 trillion, which shows that currently, we are more than 10% down. Lower mining difficulty means miners will find it easier to earn Bitcoin rewards. Most importantly, smaller or retail miners will have a fighting chance to make some profits.
Bitcoin’s hash rate
Due to a heat wave in Texas, miners voluntarily shut down their operations in order to give some relief to the power grid. This resulted in one of the major hash rate drops since the time of the China ban. However, it is not necessarily a bad thing, as miners are able to protect their hardware from the effects of the heat. It also means that miners that are active will find it easier to earn the rewards as there is less competition.
Bitcoin’s hash rate at its peak was 231.428 exahashes per second, and now it is near 195.941 EH/s. In the last few days, the hash rate has climbed up from near the 190 EH/s mark. However, it is still much behind the all-time high.
With the hash rate climbing and difficulty on the decline, we could expect that a 3-month downward streak of mining difficulty will break in the near future. There is a good chance that if the hash rate rises further, there will be an increase in difficulty as well.
BTC mining energy usage
A recent report published by the BTC mining council shows that miners are currently using nearly 60% of renewable energy resources for mining. This means that only 40% of the energy utilized is leaving a carbon footprint. And seeing the current rate of adoption, we can expect even that number to drop significantly in the near future. This is considering the shift to cheaper sources of energy (renewable) and more efficient mining rigs.
However, you will never hear about these stats from environmentalists and government officials. They will continue to talk about Bitcoin’s energy usage and its environmental impact even though the reality is something different.
What are your thoughts as Bitcoin’s mining difficulty falls again? And what do you think about the energy usage in BTC mining? Let us know in the comments below. Also, if you found our content informative, do like and share it with your friends.
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