The Bitcoin network’s mining difficulty, a measure of how hard it is to mine new blocks, has dropped by approximately 11.16%. This marks the largest single downward adjustment since China’s 2021 mining ban. The difficulty fell to 125.86 T, with block production times exceeding the 10-minute target. Analysts project a further decrease of about 10.4% in the next adjustment scheduled for February 23.
The Bitcoin mining difficulty has fallen to 125.86 T, data from CoinWarz shows. This 11.16% decline represents the steepest single drop since the series of adjustments triggered by China’s 2021 crypto mining crackdown.
The adjustment took effect at block 935,429. The network’s average block time is now over 11 minutes, which is longer than the protocol’s intended 10-minute target.
Difficulty is projected to fall again, according to projections from CoinWarz. The next adjustment on February 23 is estimated to bring difficulty down to approximately 112.7 T.
This significant drop followed a period of miner strain from both market and environmental forces. Bitcoin’s price declined by over 50% from its all-time high of over $125,000 to a low of $60,000.
Simultaneously, a severe winter storm named Fern swept through the United States in January, disrupting electrical infrastructure. The storm’s impact caused US-based Bitcoin miners to temporarily curtail energy usage and halt operations.
Foundry USA, the world’s largest mining pool by hashrate, briefly lost about 60% of its computational power. Its hashing power declined from nearly 400 exahashes per second (EH/s) to about 198 EH/s during the event.
The pool’s hashrate has since recovered to over 354 EH/s, as detailed according to Hashrate Index. Foundry USA still commands 29.47% of the total mining market share.
The total Bitcoin network hashrate declined to a four-month low in January. This occurred amid deteriorating crypto market conditions and some miners shifting operations to AI data centers.
