Bitcoin Network Preps for Another Difficulty Spike as Hashrate Remains Strong and Miners Profit Amid Price Surge

Bitcoin Network Preps for Another Difficulty Spike as Hashrate Remains Strong and Miners Profit Amid Price Surge

Following the last two difficulty increases on the Bitcoin network, another rise in difficulty is expected to take place on March 24, 2023. Statistics show that Bitcoin’s hashrate has remained high despite the last two adjustments, and block times have been faster than the ten-minute average. Bitcoin Difficulty Expected to Rise Following the Past Two Consecutive Increases

At the time of writing, Bitcoin’s difficulty is at an all-time high of 43.55 trillion, and the network’s hashrate remains above the 300 exahash per second (EH/s) range at 319.86 EH/s. Bitcoin has risen 26.2% over the last two weeks against the U.S. dollar, which has greatly helped bitcoin miners, and BTC’s spot value is now above the cost to mine it.

Bitcoin miners dealt with two consecutive difficulty increases over the last month, with the first jumping 9.95% higher on Feb. 24, 2023, and the second increasing by 1.16% on March 10. The rise hasn’t seemed to affect bitcoin miners, as block interval times (times between each block mined) are still less than the ten-minute average. Currently, block times range between nine minutes and 28 seconds and nine minutes and 31 seconds.

At present, the estimated difficulty change for Friday, March 24, is expected to be between 2.51% and 5.7% higher than the current 43.55 trillion. If miners maintain or even accelerate their pace, the difficulty after the next adjustment could potentially rise above the 50 trillion hashes mark. Current estimates suggest the target range will be between 44.64 trillion and 49.25 trillion. March 21, 2023, three-day statistics for bitcoin mining pool distribution according to btc.com.

Mining distribution statistics show that Foundry USA is currently the top bitcoin mining pool, with 97.22 EH/s or 30.31% of the global hashrate. Foundry is followed by Antpool with 61.03 EH/s, and F2pool with 46.13 EH/s. The top five bitcoin mining pools, including Foundry, Antpool, F2pool, Binance Pool, and Viabtc, command 84.52% of the global hashrate as of March 21, 2023, according to three-day metrics. Tags in this story Algorithm, Antpool, Binance Pool, Bitcoin, Bitcoin mining, Blockchain, BTC, BTC Mining, BTC.com, computer science, Cryptocurrency, cryptocurrency mining, Cryptography, Decentralized, difficulty, Digital Assets, Digital Currency, digital economy, economics, electronic cash, encryption, F2Pool, Finance, Financial Technology, Foundry, Hashrate, Internet, investment, investment strategy, market, mining, mining pool distribution, Peer-to-peer, Security, speculative, technology, three-day metrics, trading, ViaBTC, Virtual Currency

What do you think about the expected difficulty increase set to happen in two days? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. Jamie Redman

Jamie Redman is the News Lead at Bitcoin.com News and a financial tech journalist living in Florida. Redman has been an active member of the cryptocurrency community since 2011. He has a passion for Bitcoin, open-source code, and decentralized applications. Since September 2015, Redman has written more than 6,000 articles for Bitcoin.com News about the disruptive protocols emerging today. Several Crypto Mining Operations Busted in Russia MINING | 3 days ago Revised Bill Suggests Prison Time for Russian Crypto Miners Evading Taxation MINING | Mar 12, 2023

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons Previous articleBiggest Movers: XRP Hits 2-Month High, Despite Crypto Consolidation Next articleFormer White House Senior Advisor David Plouffe Joins Alchemy Pay Advisory Board Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article. Read disclaimerShow comments More Popular NewsIn Case You Missed ItCentral Bank of Brazil Confirms It Will Run a Pilot Test for Its CBDC This Year

The Central Bank of Brazil has confirmed that the institution will run a pilot test regarding the implementation of its proposed central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital real. Roberto Campos Neto, president of the bank, also stated that this ... read more.Draft Law Regulating Aspects of Crypto Taxation Submitted to Russian Parliament NFT Sales Volume Saw a Small Uptick This Week — Moonbirds, Mutant Apes Take Top Sales Fed"s Bullard Wants to Raise Bank Rate to 3.5% by Year"s End, Hints at 75 Basis Point Rate Hike Microbt Reveals Latest Bitcoin Mining Rigs — Machines Produce up to 126 TH/s With Custom 5nm Chip Design