New year, new record: Bitcoin difficulty increases by 1.65%

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On January 5, 2024, Bitcoin once again set a new mining difficulty record. network difficulty It rose to 73.2 trillion after rising 1.65% today.The change occurred at 7:41 this morning (Vietnam time) block height 824,544 Nearly two weeks ago, the block height was 822,528, an increase of 6.98%.

basically, Difficulty level Bitcoin represents a measure that reflects the challenges faced in determining block subsidies for adding new blocks to the blockchain. The difficulty level changes every two weeks, either up or down, to maintain consistent block generation times, which for Bitcoin is approximately 10 minutes per block. The latest number, 73.2 trillion, reflects the current difficulty target.

This number represents the upper limit of the hash value at which a block is considered valid. When the difficulty is 73.2 trillion, it means that the hash value of a valid block must be less than or equal to a very low target number compared to the range of possible hash values.

Over the past 12 months, difficulty targets have soared to new records, continually surpassing previous peaks.This increase is due to hash rate Increase Remarkably, according to data, the current speed reaches 545 exahash per second (EH/s) statistics Provided by hashrateindex.com. Despite the last 20 hikes in 2023 and the first hike in 2024, Bitcoin miners remain undeterred. Block generation times are faster than the usual 10-minute average, resulting in spikes every 2,016 blocks mined.

Source: data.hashrateindex

Throughout 2023, the network added over 300 EH/s, maintaining steady speeds and accelerating significantly towards the end of the year. ASIC manufacturers have roll out Next-generation devices feature enhanced terahash capacity and higher efficiency (measured in joules/terahash (J/T)).Since late last year, mining companies Buy tens of thousands The cutting-edge device is expected to be delivered in 2024.

Source: data.hashrateindex

Therefore, hashrate is expected to increase with difficulty, preventing unforeseen circumstances. However, hash price Bitcoin – the expected daily value of computing power per petahash per second (PH/s) – has fallen from $102.88 per PH/s on December 31, 2023 to $87.6 currently. Bitcoin’s next difficulty adjustment is expected to occur around January 19, 2024.