In a notable shift for the Bitcoin network, the mining difficulty has decreased by approximately 11.16% in the past 24 hours. This marks the most significant drop in a single adjustment period since the Chinese government enforced its crackdown on cryptocurrency mining in 2021. During that period, the mining difficulty had plummeted by as much as 27%.
Data from CoinWarz reveals that the current mining difficulty stands at 125.86 T, which was implemented at block 935,429. The average time for processing a block is currently around 9.47 minutes, falling just shy of the ideal 10-minute interval. Looking ahead, projections suggest an increase in difficulty by about 5.63%, reaching 132.96 T by February 20.
The historical backdrop of these events traces back to May 2021, when China imposed a blanket ban on crypto mining, leading to several significant downward adjustments in difficulty. These ranged from 12.6% to 27.9% as recorded by CoinWarz. The crackdown coincided with a broader decline in the crypto market, where Bitcoin's value nosedived by more than 50% from its peak of over $125,000 to fall below $60,000.
Additionally, the recent winter storm, known as Fern, significantly impacted the United States, affecting 34 states with extreme weather conditions. This led to extensive power outages and compelled US-based Bitcoin miners to reduce their energy consumption temporarily, thereby affecting their operations and the overall network hashrate. During this time, Foundry USA, the leading mining pool by hashrate, experienced a sharp drop, losing about 60% of its computational power, plunging from nearly 400 EH/s to about 198 EH/s.
As the storm subsided, Foundry USA's hashrate rebounded, recovering to over 354 EH/s, maintaining a dominant 29.47% share of the market. However, the total Bitcoin network hashrate fell to its lowest point in four months, influenced by challenging market conditions and a strategic shift by miners towards AI data centers and other high-performance computing opportunities.
The evolving landscape of Bitcoin mining continues to be shaped by both natural and regulatory forces, underscoring the dynamic nature of the cryptocurrency industry.