From 920 EH/s to 868 EH/s: Bitcoin hashrate decreased by 50 EH/s

After the network reached an all-time high of 926 exahash per second (EH/s) and experienced a 1.42% difficulty increase to 123.23 trillion, about 52 EH/s of hashrate has left the network since April 17.

Difficulty surge and hashrate drop extend block times

Bitcoin’s hashrate has eased since last Thursday, when it reached 920 EH/s, just shy of the 926 EH/s record on April 8. Since April 17, when the hashrate was 920 EH/s, 52 EH/s of hashrate has left the network, bringing the total hashrate down to 868 EH/s today.

This movement coincides with an increase in mining profitability over the past 24 hours, as the hash price — or the estimated spot value of one gigahash per second of computing power — rose from $43.53 to $45.73 at 11 a.m. ET on Monday. Bitcoin’s move above the $88,000 threshold boosted hash prices and mining revenues.

Conversely, the network’s difficulty increased to a record 123.23 trillion at block height 893,088 on April 19. This marked the fourth difficulty adjustment since block 887,040, making it more difficult for miners to discover new blocks.

These fluctuations show how miner behavior can quickly respond to economic signals and protocol adjustments, embodying the delicate tug-of-war between incentives and challenges. As profitability rises and difficulty tightens, the network’s balance evolves, highlighting the flexibility, resilience, and tenacity of the Bitcoin engine.

After the most recent difficulty increase and hashrate drop, block times are now averaging 10 minutes and 57 seconds. This blockage suggests that the next difficulty retarget could bring a significant reduction, but it is too early to confirm this as the recalibration is scheduled to take place around May 4, 2025. However, current forecasts suggest a significant 8.7% reduction is possible.