• On Jan. 15, 2023, Bitcoin’s mining difficulty is expected to increase by 10% to an all-time high of 37.57 trillion.
• The network’s hash rate is currently at 268.79 exahash per second (EH/s) and its computational power reached an all-time high on Jan. 6, 2023.
• Foundry USA and Antpool command nearly half of Bitcoin’s global hashrate.
The leading cryptocurrency network, Bitcoin (BTC), is set to experience a notable difficulty increase in just three days, on or around Jan. 15, 2023. This increase will be the largest in Bitcoin’s history, and is estimated to raise the network’s difficulty by 10%, from 34.09 trillion to an all-time high of 37.57 trillion.
At the time of writing, the Bitcoin network’s hash rate is at 268.79 exahash per second (EH/s), and was recently recorded at an all-time high of 361.20 EH/s on Jan. 6, 2023. This impressive hash rate has enabled the network to remain secure and reliable, however, the increasing hash rate has also caused the block time to decrease from 10 minutes per block to an average of 8 minutes, 52 seconds, and 9 minutes, 6 seconds. As a result, the upcoming difficulty retarget on Jan. 15 is expected to boost hashrate requirements, and this increase has not been seen since October 2022.
Foundry USA and Antpool are two of the largest mining pools on the Bitcoin network, and they currently command nearly half of the network’s global hashrate. Foundry USA has been particularly active on the network, and currently holds 26.6% of the network’s hashrate. Antpool has also been successful, and currently holds 16.7% of the network’s hashrate.
It is expected that the upcoming difficulty increase will further strengthen the security of the Bitcoin network, and also help to ensure that block times remain stable. This will benefit miners, investors, and users of the network, and marks a significant milestone for Bitcoin.