Bitcoin (BTC) Mining Difficulty Climbs Amid New Hash Rate ATH

With the latest protocol tweak, mining has become more difficult, and the Bitcoin (BTC) network is exhibiting encouraging indications of strength.

Glassnode, a cryptocurrency on-chain monitoring tool, reports that the most recent difficulty adjustment has set a new All-Time High (ATH) of 209 zettahashes (10^21) for the projected number of hashes needed to mine a block.

Following the latest #Bitcoin difficulty adjustment, the estimated number of hashes required to mine a block has reached an ATH of 209 zettahashes (10^21).

Thus, the difficulty to mine a block continues to increase as more hashpower is deployed to the network. pic.twitter.com/aXHhGwFIRw

— glassnode (@glassnode) April 28, 2023

The mining difficulty is a key indicator of the Bitcoin network’s overall health. While the Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism is most often associated with Bitcoin. It is also applicable to other digital currencies as well. Every two weeks, the mining difficulty for Bitcoin is recalculated.

More miners are joining the network in hopes of earning the Bitcoin reward associated with greater capital expenditures, which is driving up mining difficulty.

Advocating PoW to PoS

Many miners had to shut down all or part of their operations. Due to the financial stress, they were under last year when the crypto winter was in full swing. Some of the failed miners are beginning to revive and reconnect their hardware.

Mining activity is controversial with authorities despite its central role in the Bitcoin ecosystem. Core proponents claim that the energy used by mining operations is far less than the energy consumed by most other human activities. Despite the fact that many people believe that mining is destructive to the environment and, thus, should be banned.

Because of all the chaos, there is now more support for green Bitcoin mining, which makes use of renewable energy. Furthermore, many detractors are pushing for Bitcoin to switch from the Proof-of-Work (PoW) model to the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) model. Similar like Ethereum did earlier last year.

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