Bitcoin plunged below the $26,000 level on Wednesday extending monthly losses to nearly 15% but it has never been more difficult to mine the leading crypto-asset.
Despite a severe drawdown in price, Bitcoin’s network fundamentals have largely refrained from following the same trajectory. In fact, Bitcoin’s mining difficulty has reached an all-time high of 55.62 trillion hashes, according to the latest data from CoinWarz.
Data suggest that the next difficulty adjustment is estimated to take place in September, increasing the Bitcoin mining difficulty from 55.62 T to 62.61 T, which will take place in 1,879 blocks. It’s worth noting, though, that this number can change a lot in the upcoming 10 days.
Besides the difficulty, the network hash rate has also not been reactive to Bitcoin’s price, which is facing significant downward pressure after general sentiment flipped bearish last week.
The hash rate was found to be at 402.43 EH/s, just 13% down from its recently established peak of 465 EH/s.
The uptrend can be attributed to the fact that more mining rigs have been deployed this year after a choppy 2022.
Over the past year, the costs of Bitcoin mining rigs have plummeted to almost their lowest historical levels.
This decline in profitability prompted miners to capitalize on the situation, strategically positioning themselves ahead of the upcoming halving event to maintain their competitive edge.
Moreover, Bitcoin mining stocks were also up by more than 200% YTD. Cipher Mining (CIFR), for one, surged by 389%, while stocks for Riot Blockchain (RIOT) and Marathon (MARA) soared by 228% each during the same period.
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