Bitcoin mining revenue has hit record lows due to a drop in the network hashrate and an increase in mining difficulty. After reaching a peak of 677 exahash per second (EH/s) on July 25, the hashrate has declined to 629 EH/s as of August 4. The decline in revenue can be attributed to the recent drop in Bitcoin’s price and the uptick in mining difficulty.
The hashprice, which measures the estimated daily earnings per petahash per second (PH/s), hit a record low of $42.78 per PH/s on August 4. This drop followed a 10.5% increase in mining difficulty, which pushed it to an all-time high. Additionally, the price of BTC fell below $61,000, after briefly surpassing $70,000 a few days earlier.
The combination of increased difficulty and declining price has led to a decrease in hashrate, with 48 EH/s of hashpower exiting the network since July 25. July also saw the lowest monthly revenue in 2024 so far, with onchain fees decreasing significantly. Fees collected in July were more than 75% lower than those in June. The average transaction fee has been below $1.60 per transaction since July 5, with the current average transfer fee at 7.7 satoshis per virtual byte (sats/vB).
Despite the reduced fees, onchain activity remains robust, with confirmed transactions exceeding 800,000 per day on four occasions since July 21. The number of confirmed transactions has consistently stayed above 445,000 per day.
These recent developments highlight the challenges that Bitcoin miners are currently facing. The combination of record-high difficulty, diminished revenue, and reduced fees poses a significant test for the network. As miners adapt to these conditions, the resilience of the Bitcoin network will face its greatest challenge yet.
What are your thoughts on the challenges faced by Bitcoin miners this week? Share your insights and opinions in the comments section below.
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