Mining Bitcoin Harder Than Ever As Difficulty Reaches 86 Tln Hashes Ahead Halving

In a riveting turn of events, Bitcoin mining difficulty recently reached unprecedented levels, hitting the 86.39 trillion hash mark ahead of the BTC halving. This primarily aligns with the sudden rise in Bitcoin miners rushing into mining as many coins as the 2024 halving approaches, resulting in higher hash rates that, in turn, offer higher network security.

BTC Mining Spikes Ahead Of Halving: What’s The Scoop?

Bitcoin miners race to mine as many coins as possible ahead of the upcoming halving, a four-year recurring event, since it significantly reduces rewards for mining new blocks. Miners anticipate this event negatively because it reduces the rate at which new BTC tokens are created. As a result, they try to accumulate as many coins as possible before the halving occurs, resulting in a spike in mining activity, as mentioned above.

Intriguingly, the rush of Bitcoin miners typically increases the overall hash rate of the Bitcoin network. This higher hash rate further enhances the network’s security by making it more difficult for any single entity to manipulate the blockchain or conduct malicious activities, adding a tint of optimism to the token.

Notably, Bitcoin mining’s difficulty gauges how hard and time-consuming it is to mine a new block or solve mathematical puzzles under Bitcoin’s proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism. Further, BTC mining difficulty adjustment occurs every 2,016 blocks, or approximately every two weeks, as Bitcoin is programmed to self-adjust the difficulty level to maintain a target block time of 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, with the surge in mining difficulty, BTC’s price witnessed quite a flux in the past 24 hours.

Also Read: Bitcoin Options Expiry: How Traders Are Pricing For Bitcoin Halving

Bitcoin Price Flux: A Closer Look

As of writing, the Bitcoin token’s price noted a marginal 0.14% jump in the past 24 hours and is currently trading at $70,901. Notably, the token’s chart, per CoinMarketCap’s data, showcased a highly volatile movement over the past day, with 24-hour lows and highs of $69,571.81 and $71,256.24, respectively. This volatile movement aligns with the the rise in mining difficulty, as miners encounter burgeoning technical hurdles with the spike in miners partaking in this event.

Nonetheless, a tidal wave of optimism in the market persists with the upcoming BTC halving, as historical data fuels bullish sentiments on the token’s price action post-halving.

Also Read: Canada’s British Columbia Seeks To Block Bitcoin Mining Operations