Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Was Reduced By 4.6% To 88.4T On September 26

The difficulty of Bitcoin mining ushered in the latest adjustment on September 26, 2024, which occurred at block height 862,848 at 3:40:28. This difficulty adjustment was reduced by 4.6%, bringing the mining difficulty down to 88.4 T (trillion). This is a new change after the last difficulty adjustment.

The significance of mining difficulty adjustment

The difficulty of Bitcoin mining is automatically adjusted every two weeks (2016 blocks) according to the changes in the computing power of the entire network. The purpose is to maintain the time for Bitcoin block generation at about 10 minutes. If the computing power increases during this period and the block generation speed is accelerated, the difficulty will increase; conversely, if the computing power decreases, the difficulty will decrease. Therefore, this difficulty reduction means that the average computing power of the entire network has decreased over the past period of time, and it is easier for miners to mine Bitcoin.

Network-wide computing power

Before this difficulty adjustment, the average computing power of the entire network for seven days was 639.20 EH/s (639.2 quadrillion hash operations per second). The fluctuation of computing power is affected by many factors, including miners joining or leaving the network, changes in energy costs, equipment upgrades or maintenance, etc.

The impact of mining difficulty on miners

The reduction in mining difficulty is good news for miners, especially those with low operating efficiency or aging equipment, because the reduction means that their equipment can find new blocks and get rewards relatively easily under the current circumstances. In addition, changes in mining difficulty are also related to Bitcoin prices. Difficulty adjustments often affect miners’ profitability, and reduced difficulty means that miners can mine more Bitcoins with the same computing power.

Long-term outlook

Although this adjustment has reduced the mining difficulty, the long-term trend of the Bitcoin network shows that as more miners join and technology advances, the network’s computing power may continue to rise. Especially with the continuous launch of new ASIC mining machines, the competition in the Bitcoin mining industry will become more intense.

In summary, the mining difficulty adjustment on September 26 provides miners with a short-term relief opportunity, but it also reflects the continuous changes in the computing power of the entire network and the dynamic balance of the Bitcoin mining ecosystem.