Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Drops to Lowest Level Since March as Price Surges Past $57K
Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Drops Over 5% to Quarterly Low of 79.5T as Price Surges Past $57K
On July 5, Bitcoin mining difficulty fell by over 5%, reaching a quarterly low of 79.50 terahashes (79.5T). This was the largest reduction since March when the difficulty briefly dropped below 80T. Between March and May, difficulty spiked, hitting an all-time high of 88.10T before gradually settling to its current level.
Understanding Mining Difficulty
Bitcoin mining difficulty, measured in hashrate, indicates how many guesses a mining machine must make to solve the cryptographic puzzle needed to unlock one of the remaining bitcoins. Hashrates are updated every 2,016 blocks, roughly every two weeks. Historically, hashrates have generally increased month over month, with few exceptions.
In 2014, hashrates were around 1.1 gigahashes, low enough for most desktop PCs to mine Bitcoin. By late 2017, as adoption increased, hashrates reached the terahash mark for the first time. As of July 6, 2024, they remain at 79.5T until the next difficulty update.
Profitability and Efficiency
At the current difficulty of 79.5T, mining pool F2Pool estimates that an ASIC rig with a watts per terahash efficiency rate of 26 or better can be profitable as long as Bitcoin’s price stays above $54,000. F2Pool notes, “With a $BTC price of $54k, ASICs with Unit Power of 26 W/T or less can make a profit. We estimate this at $0.07 per kWh.” If Bitcoin’s price falls below this threshold, more efficient rigs will be required to maintain profitability. However, if the price remains stable, conditions should be favorable for major miners, particularly those benefiting from energy subsidies for mining operations.
