Bitcoin difficulty hits new ATH rising by 4.68%, further securing the network
difficulty rose 4.68% in the second largest positive adjustment in a year, hitting a new all-time high. Blockchain difficulty is automatically set within Bitcoin’s core code based on mining activity on the network.
The chart below shows the most significant adjustments, both positive (green) and negative (red).
A higher difficulty means a more secure blockchain, as more energy is required to attack the network. Also, the higher the global hashrate difficulty, the harder it is to mine new blocks.
The difficulty is adjusted according to the miner’s hashrate, keeping the time to create a new block at a consistent 10 minutes. Therefore, if a “bad guy” attacks with miners on the network, the difficulty will continue to increase along with the hashrate. The difficulty he adjusts every 2,016 blocks. That means he will have less than two weeks before the new miner adapts the network to reduce its impact and control.
Additionally, increased difficulty means more consistent block times. The time to mine new blocks becomes more difficult and more reliable due to increased competition among miners.
However, increasing difficulty puts additional stress on the mining industry. Comparable rewards require more computational power, making his ROI on mining hardware unfavorable.
The rise in Bitcoin’s price in recent weeks will allay the worst fears of many miners as Bitcoin rewards are more valuable in dollar terms. After applying for restructuring, price increases are a much-needed respite for miners.
