• Bitcoin’s hashrate reached an all-time high of 361.20 exahash per second (EH/s) on Jan. 6, 2023.
• The network is currently coasting along at 290 EH/s after reaching its ATH the day prior.
• Block generation times have been much faster than the 10-minute average and the cost of Bitcoin production has dropped.
The Bitcoin network has broken yet another record during the first week of the new year. On Jan. 6, 2023, the blockchain-based cryptocurrency hit an all-time high (ATH) of 361.20 exahash per second (EH/s) at block height 770,709. This number is more than 4% higher than the previous record of 347.16 EH/s recorded on Nov. 12, 2022, at block height 762,845.
The rapid surge in Bitcoin’s hashrate is a testament to the increasing number of miners joining the network and the security of the blockchain. The higher the hashrate, the more secure the network is and the faster blocks can be mined. This is evident in the current block intervals, which have been between 8:51 and 7:31 minutes, much faster than the 10-minute average.
As a result of this hashrate surge, the cost of BTC production has dropped significantly. Statistics from macromicro.me indicate that the cost of bitcoin production is $16,568 per unit, while the spot price is $16,920 per unit. This means that miners are able to make a profit while still producing Bitcoin at a faster rate. In addition, data from theminermag.com shows that the average cost of bitcoin production might even be much lower, at around $13.6K per unit.
As the hashrate continues to climb, the network’s difficulty is expected to increase. This is because the higher the hashrate, the more difficult it will be for miners to find new blocks and earn rewards. As such, difficulty adjustments are expected to be made in the coming days in order to keep the network secure and keep the block times consistent.
With the recent surge in Bitcoin’s hashrate, the network is set to break more records in the coming months. This could lead to a new wave of miners joining the network and a higher demand for Bitcoin. It remains to be seen how this will affect the network and the prices of Bitcoin in the future.