Bitcoin Mining Reaches Nears All-Time High in Difficulty Amid Imminent Halving

Bitcoin, the first and largest blockchain network out there, has had its mining difficulty reach near its all-time high within the latest adjustment for the network. The mining difficulty stands as a measurement of how hard it is to compete for a block reward, and has risen the closer it’s gotten to Bitcoin’s imminent halving. As it stands now, the halving is less than a week away.

Difficulty Reaching Near-Highest

The mining difficulty has been adjusted once more, with the difficulty having been changed to 16.10 trillion (T) as of Tuesday 04:05 UTC. This stands very close to the all-time high of 16.55 T that was recorded in March.

An important thing to note here is that this massive upward surge in difficulty has come just after the second-largest decline in difficulty ever recorded in Bitcoin’s history. This occurred late March after the crypto market crash caused a massive decrease in hashing power. This, in turn, made the algorithm auto-adjust, so the desired amount of BTC can be produced per hour. It’s a complicated process, showing the decentralized genius that is Bitcoin.

Halving Drawing Closer

The adjustment that occurred today is the second time that mining difficulty has been set above the 16T threshold. This stands as the last rate change before the Bitcoin halving, as well. The bitcoin halving event stands as the most anticipated one for the entire year when one looks at the crypto community. People are eager for the massive bull run that follows it and hope the price doesn’t bubble like last time.

Once the halving has finished, the amount of Bitcoin allowed to mine per day will be, quite literally, halved from 1,800 to 900 units. With this drop in availability, it’s expected that many older rigs will be rendered obsolete, thus leading to the overall computing power to drop within the Bitcoin network. This, in turn, will lead to a drop in difficulty once the network adjusts for it.

Keeping Things In Check

The mining difficulty automatically adjusts itself within the Bitcoin network every 2016 blocks. This, in turn, works for about two weeks’ time. It adapts itself to compensate for the amount of computing power available within the network. Should the competition increase, so will the difficulty. If there’s a decrease in competition, the difficulty will drop as well.

Everyone seems to be gearing up towards the next halving event, with miners across the globe eager to push that little bit of use that the older mining models have left. It remains to be seen if history will repeat itself as to whether or not the Bitcoin market will bubble afterward.

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