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Bitcoin miners face two additional difficulty adjustments before the network’s halving event, which is rapidly approaching, with less than 4,300 blocks remaining. Data indicates the total hashrate has recovered from a minor dip, suggesting miners might see a decrease in difficulty at the next adjustment, set for on or around March 28, 2024. With the month drawing to a close in just ten days, the income generated by miners this month is on the verge of exceeding February’s total earnings.
Rising Hashprice and Impending Difficulty Adjustments Pre-Halving
Bitcoin (BTC) has successfully maintained its position above the $60,000 mark, providing a significant advantage to miners. This high valuation has pushed the overall hash price beyond the $95 per petahash per second (PH/s) mark since Feb. 28, 2024. Indicators suggest that within the next 950 blocks, we can anticipate the forthcoming difficulty retarget to take place around March 28, 2024.
Given the current block intervals are exceeding the average ten-minute mark, peaking at 10:12 and even higher a few days prior, a decrease in difficulty might be observed during this adjustment. Recent statistics at block height 835,701 predict a possible reduction in difficulty ranging from 0.13% to 2.1%. However, this estimate could vary as time passes.
A downward adjustment could provide some relief for miners who have recently experienced a 5.79% increase in the last retarget. As of March 21, 2024, the hashprice is approximately $104.79, with the total hashrate reaching 610 exahash per second (EH/s). In the last week, miners have unearthed 981 blocks, and over the previous 30 days, a total of 4,390 blocks have been mined.
This week, Foundry USA led by uncovering 275 blocks, followed closely by Antpool with 222 blocks. With only ten days remaining in March, miners have so far accumulated $1.33 billion in combined block rewards and fees. This figure is slightly below the $1.39 billion earned in February, indicating that miners are likely to exceed last month’s earnings in the next 24 hours.
The subsidy-to-fee ratio for March closely mirrors that of February, with the current month’s unfinished statistics showing $63.77 million in fees compared to last month’s total of $71.56 million. Data gathered by intotheblock.com reveals that miners earned more fees at the beginning of the month before seeing a decline.
The daily fee contributions to leverage the Bitcoin network onchain saw a 1.5% decrease but experienced a 4.54% increase, with fees now 89.75% lower than 90 days prior. Miners are currently processing fewer transactions per day compared to three months ago. At block height 835,701, there are 137,000 transactions awaiting miner confirmation.
What do you think about the upcoming difficulty adjustments pre-halving? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.