Historic rise in bitcoin hashrate boosts network security

Historic rise in bitcoin hashrate boosts network security

Bitcoin has reached an all-time high hashrate of 769.8 exahashes per second (EH/s) on October 21, 2023. This increase demonstrates the growing security of the world's oldest blockchain network. The hashrate has been steadily increasing since 2021, which is related to advances in mining hardware such as application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs).

Higher hashrate also means rising costs of bitcoin mining, which may lead to consolidation among smaller miners who may have difficulty being profitable. With the planned halving of the block reward in 2024, competition in the market is expected to intensify. According to Nazar Khan of TeraWulf, economical mining equipment will be a key factor in maintaining profitability.

TeraWulf, one of the largest mining companies, plans to continue to expand even as royalties fall. Despite the increasing difficulty of mining, miners have not yet increased bitcoin sales; on October 20, they sent only 2,916 BTC to exchanges, the fourth lowest sales in the past month.

Consolidation among miners could be evident soon, as unprofitable platforms are already starting to be shut down. This dynamic suggests that the future of bitcoin mining will require innovative approaches and cost efficiencies.

*This is not investment advice.

Coingarage Team