Bitcoin Mining Hits Record Difficulty: 5.07% Increase at Block 818,496

The Bitcoin network has recently hit a significant milestone regarding the difficulty level of mining a new block. In particular, according to statistics from Bitcoin Blockchain Explorer, BTC experienced a mining difficulty adjustment at block height 818,496. This adjustment has increased the mining difficulty by 5.07%, reaching a new high of 67.96 tera-hashes per second.

The prominent Chinese reporter Colin Wu called attention to this development in a recent statement on the X platform.

Significantly, the recent adjustment suggests that mining new blocks is now 5.07% more challenging than the previous adjustment period on November 12. This is because the network hash rate, which measures the total computing power dedicated to mining Bitcoin, has increased. Per Bitcoin Explorer, the current average hash rate for the entire network is now at 504.8 exa-hashes per second (EH/s), compared to 486.50 EH/s recorded fourteen days ago.

It is worth noting that mining difficulty adjustments occur regularly to maintain a consistent block addition rate to the blockchain, typically around every 10 minutes for Bitcoin. When more miners join the network, the difficulty rises to uphold this timeframe, and conversely, if miners exit, the difficulty decreases.

Emphatically, a higher hash rate intensifies the challenge of mining new blocks as it results in increased competition to solve the cryptographic puzzle necessary for block creation. Notably, the next Bitcoin mining difficulty adjustment will occur on December 10, at block height 820,512.

Early this month, the Bitcoin network encountered a significant temporary disruption in block production, marked by a notable pause lasting over an hour. As per Bitcoin’s dedicated blockchain explorer, a delay occurred on November 7, during which the network did not produce a block between 16:47 and 17:56 (UTC+8).