According to blockchain data analysis firm Glassnode, the seven-day moving average of Bitcoin (BTC) hash rate has reached a historic high of 703 EH/s, marking the first time 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 increased 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, which is over 200 EH/s. The share of hash rate from these mining companies has been continuously increasing month by month, with a growth of nearly 10% since October 2022. Ski states, “Publicly listed mining companies are gaining market share from other miners worldwide.”
Ski also mentioned that the companies with the highest hash rate growth in the past 12 months were CleanSpark (CLSK), MARA Holdings (MARA), Riot Platforms (RIOT), and IREN, which aligns with the monthly production growth of the top mining companies 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. As a result, weaker miners will have to exit the Bitcoin network as mining becomes financially unfeasible, while those with the lowest energy costs or the most robust balance sheets will continue to increase their network share.
Hash price jumps to two-month high
According to Glassnode data, Bitcoin’s hash price has recently surged to $50 per day per PH/s, the highest level 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 activity of the Runes Protocol, which accounted for over 50% of the total transaction fees on October 17.
“Hash price” is a term coined by Bitcoin mining service company Luxor, referring to the expected value generated by each 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 repeated highs in hash rate, it is expected that the next mining difficulty adjustment on October 23 will increase by over 4%. Bitcoin’s mining difficulty adjusts every 2016 blocks based on hash rate to ensure an average block is mined every 10 minutes.
Data source