According to blockchain data analysis organization Glassnode, the seven-day moving average of Bitcoin (BTC) has reached a historical high of 703 EH/s, marking the first time that the Bitcoin network’s hash rate has surpassed 700 EH/s.
Source: Glassnode
Hash rate (also known as hashrate) refers to the total computational power used for mining and processing transactions on a proof-of-work (PoW) blockchain. Since the halving event in April this year, Bitcoin’s hash rate has grown by nearly 13%.
Data shared by Bitcoin mining analyst Sebastian Ski shows that the top 12 listed mining companies contributed 28.9% of the total hash rate in September, exceeding 200 EH/s. The hash rate share of these miners has been steadily increasing month by month, with a growth of nearly 10% since October 2022. Ski states, “Publicly listed miners are capturing market share from other miners worldwide.”
Ski also mentioned that CleanSpark (CLSK), MARA Holdings (MARA), Riot Platforms (RIOT), and IREN have seen the most hash rate growth in the past 12 months, which aligns with the monthly production growth of the top miners in September.
Bitcoin mining is one of the most challenging industries to maintain profitability due to its capital-intensive nature and the impact of block reward halving that occurs every four years. Therefore, weaker miners will have to exit the Bitcoin network as mining becomes financially unviable, while those with the lowest energy costs or the most robust balance sheets will continue to increase their network share.
Hash price reaches two-month high
According to Glassnode data, Bitcoin’s hash price has recently surged to $50 per day per PH/s, the highest since August. This slight increase in hash price is attributed to the rise in Bitcoin price to $68,000 and the increase in transaction fees caused by on-chain minting activities of the Runes Protocol, which accounted for more than 50% of total transaction fees on October 17.
“Hash price” is a term coined by Bitcoin mining service company Luxor, referring to the expected value that can be generated by 1 PH/s or 1 TH/s of hash power per day. This indicator quantifies the benefits that miners can expect to receive from a specific amount of hash power.
Due to the continuous increase in hash rate, the next mining difficulty adjustment is expected to increase by over 4% on October 23. Bitcoin’s mining difficulty is adjusted every 2016 blocks based on the hash rate to ensure an average block is mined every 10 minutes.
Data source