The complexity of bitcoin mining has updated the historical record

In another recalculation, the bitcoin difficulty index rose nearly 7%, setting a new all-time high at 72.01 T.

Bitcoin mining difficulty hit an all-time record this past weekend. The figure rose 6.98% to 72.01 T, according to BTC.com. The previous high was recorded on November 26, 2023, when the difficulty reached 67.96 T.

The complexity of mining determines the amount of computing power required to find a new block in the bitcoin blockchain. How many times, on average, miners must calculate the value of a hash function to find a cryptocurrency block. With the current increase, the target difficulty value is set at 72.01 T (1 T = 1 trillion).

The average bitcoin hashrate (the total processing power of the hardware mining the cryptocurrency) at the current difficulty is expected to be 515.36 EH/s, which is also the maximum value. The previous maximum average hashrate was recorded at 486.35 EH/s on Nov. 26.

The first cryptocurrency’s mining difficulty is forecast to increase by another 1.6% to 73.16T on January 5.

The complexity of mining is increasing amid the rise in the price of bitcoin. The BTC exchange rate as of December 26 is hovering around $42.1k+, according to CoinMarketCap. Over the past month, the asset has risen in price by 14.5% and updated the highs since April 2022.

Our experts note that in mid-October, bitcoin began to grow rapidly amid news about the possible approval of a spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) for bitcoin by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In less than a month, the BTC exchange rate has grown by almost $10 thousand.

At the moment, several large investment companies are waiting for approval of their own ETFs on bitcoin by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The launch of such ETFs is considered in the crypto community as a catalyst for a new bull cycle in the market.