Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Exceeds 50T for the First Time

The Bitcoin price is still stuck in a narrow range, but the world’s largest crypto asset has never been more difficult to mine than it is now. Its network fundamentals paint a decisive bullish picture.

• according to data From BTC.com, Bitcoin mining difficulty rose this week to 50.68 trillion, marking a new all-time high.
• The latest difficulty adjustment occurred at block height 792,288, which added 3.4% on May 31. This is the first time that Bitcoin has recorded a difficulty level above the 50 trillion mark.
• Further validation of miners’ conviction and competition is the network’s hash rate, which is hovering near an all-time high of 400 EH/s.
• Foundry USA led the pack contributing the largest hash rate with a market share of 28.9%. Next was Antpool with 22.6%, followed by F2Pool with a control of 14.1%.
• The sudden increase is a welcome respite for bitcoin miners after suffering immensely due to market turmoil last year.
• For example, the recent Ordinals craze has helped miners in the network by paying transaction fees.
• In fact, daily mining revenue hit a five-year high last month in what was described as a rare event.
• Due to the popularity of Ordinals, miners are now increasingly deploying more mining machines, thus enhancing the computing power of the network.
• Meanwhile, most bitcoin mining-related stocks in the United States posted gains this week as President Joe Biden agreed to scrap a planned 30% tax on electricity used by businesses.
• Gainers among major mining stocks were led by Riot Platforms, followed by Iris Energy, Hive Blockchain, Cleanspark, Hut 8 Mining, and Marathon Digital Holding.