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As bitcoin’s price rises to new heights, miners are cashing in, with the value of 1 petahash per second (PH/s) of SHA256 hashrate reaching the highest peak in 152 days.
Miner Earnings Rebound as Bitcoin Climbs
Bitcoin miners are savoring the latest BTC price highs, with the hashprice climbing 31.63% since Nov. 5. Essentially, hashprice represents the anticipated value for one petahash per second (PH/s) of hashing power. For context, a PH/s equals one quadrillion hashes, or 1,000 terahash per second (TH/s). To reach a full petahash, you’d need about six Microbt Whatminer M60S machines, each cranking out 184 TH/s.
Since Bitcoin’s fourth halving, hashprice has been lagging; on Nov. 5, it was hovering at $43.12 per PH/s. As of now, it has risen to $56.76 per PH/s. The last time hashprice hit this range was June 13, 2024, back when hashprice took a dip after the halving, as miners adjusted to a 50% reduction in rewards at block height 840,000. Since then, miners have amped up the network by adding a hefty 84,940 PH/s, equivalent to 84.94 exahash per second (EH/s).
Currently, high-priority transaction fees stand at 19 satoshis per virtual byte (sat/vB), which works out to about $2.43 per transaction. With both fees and bitcoin’s price elevated, miners are reaping better returns for now. However, any significant price shifts—especially bearish drops—could once again apply pressure on miners’ profits. In a downturn, reduced transaction volume and falling fees would make it tougher for miners to maintain the current income levels they’re enjoying.
A difficulty retarget is coming up on Nov. 18, 2024, with a minor adjustment expected—possibly a slight 0.29% increase or even a slight decrease. This hinges on block intervals, which have varied around the 10-minute mark or averaged about 9 minutes and 58 seconds recently. The last difficulty adjustment brought a substantial 6.24% increase, raising the metric to 101.65 trillion, reflecting the network’s ongoing adaptation to miner activity and hashpower shifts.
The surge in network hashrate, consistently holding above 700 exahash per second (EH/s), owes much to the latest, more efficient application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) miners. These newer models deliver improved energy efficiency, achieving better joules per terahash (J/T) ratings. Manufacturers like Microbt, Canaan, Bitmain, and Auradine are driving this boost, with advanced units offering higher performance and efficiency, empowering miners to keep pushing the hashrate to new heights.