Bitcoin’s mining difficulty is set to increase significantly on Jan. 15, 2023, reaching an all-time high of 37.57 trillion. This difficulty retarget is expected to boost the network’s hashrate requirements, with the current hash rate at 268.79 exahash per second as of the time of writing. The blockchain’s computational power hit a record high on Jan. 6, 2023, with the network’s hash power peaking at 361.20 EH/s at block height 770,709.
The estimated difficulty change for Jan. 15, 2023, was recorded on Jan. 12, 2023, at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Bitcoin block times have been between 8 minutes, 52 seconds, and 9 minutes, 6 seconds, with the network’s difficulty designed to maintain an average block time of around 10 minutes per block. Since the last difficulty change on Jan. 2, 2023, block intervals have been faster, leading to a notable increase in the upcoming difficulty retarget on Jan. 15, which has not been seen since October 2022.
As of the time of writing, Bitcoin’s network difficulty is approximately 34.09 trillion, meaning it takes an average of 34 trillion hashes to find a valid block and add it to the blockchain. Current analytics suggest that the next difficulty change is expected to increase by 10.1% to 10.21% in three days, potentially reaching an all-time high of 37.57 trillion. Foundry USA is currently the top mining pool over the last three days, commanding 29.57% of the global hashrate, followed by Antpool, F2pool, Binance Pool, Viabtc, and Braiins Pool, with Foundry and Antpool combined representing nearly half of the network’s total hashrate.
With the upcoming difficulty retarget on Jan. 15, bitcoin miners will need to exert 37.57 trillion hashes to find a block on the Bitcoin blockchain, reflecting the increasing level of competition and resource requirements in the mining sector. The anticipated increase in difficulty underscores the ongoing evolution of the bitcoin network and the need for miners to continually upgrade their equipment and processes to remain competitive.
In conclusion, Bitcoin’s mining difficulty is set to increase significantly on Jan. 15, 2023, reaching an all-time high of 37.57 trillion. This upcoming difficulty retarget will require miners to exert more computational power to find new blocks, highlighting the competitive nature of the mining sector. With Foundry USA and Antpool currently commanding nearly half of the network’s total hashrate, the landscape of bitcoin mining continues to evolve, emphasizing the importance of staying up-to-date with the latest trends and technologies in order to stay ahead in this rapidly changing industry.
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