Recent data shows that the Bitcoin (BTC) mining difficulty has reached an all-time high of 101.65 trillion at block 868,958.

This jump comes barely two weeks after the metric hit its previous high of 95.67 trillion.

BTC Mining Difficulty Up Nearly 15%

According to Bitcoin analytics platform CoinWarz, BTC’s mining difficulty has sharply increased to a historical high of 101.65T, a 14.98% surge over the past month. The data also revealed that the difficulty jumped by 6.24% in the last week and 12.11% over the last 90 days.

Bitcoin mining difficulty refers to the challenge miners face in mining the next block on the blockchain. It is a measure that displays the average number of hashes required to find a valid solution for the next block and collect the corresponding mining reward.

The metric adjusts every two weeks to guarantee that blocks are mined at a consistent rate. The difficulty increases if the preceding blocks are generated quicker than the chain’s specified block time.

Bitcoin’s global hash rate also hit an all-time high value of 945.07 EH/s (ExaHash per second) in October, per data from CoinWarz. Although the number had reduced to 732.35 EH/s at the time of writing, the figure still represents a 6.32% increase in the last 30 days.

The next mining difficulty adjustment is projected to occur on November 19, 2024, with CoinWarz analysts expecting it to drop from the current level to about 96.20T. The change could occur after 1,951 more blocks are mined, which is roughly 14 days from today.

BTC Mining Difficulty Rise a Concern for the Industry

According to CryptoQuant, Bitcoin’s hash rates and mining difficulty could be rising because of an increase in the number of machines mining the cryptocurrency. Further, the data analytics platform revealed that the competition in Bitcoin mining has intensified, and mining costs are likely to increase.

Verified CryptoQuant author and market analyst Yonsei_dent stated that intense competition is jeopardizing the mining industry since transaction fees are limited.

They believe that without sufficient transaction fees to offset operational expenses, miners could suffer heightened financial pressure, and the Bitcoin network, together with its mining ecosystems long-term viability, will become less sustainable.

In addition, a recent JP Morgan report cited by Finance Magnates highlighted an industry-wide drop in revenue collected from BTC mining activities for the fourth consecutive month in October.

The bank also stated that, on average, Bitcoin miners received a $41,800 reward per EH/s hash rate daily, a 1% drop from what they collected in September.