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Analysts Say Bitcoin Hashrate Increase Will ‘Hit Miners’
Cryptocurrency mining analytics firm Hashrate Index says public Bitcoin miners are energizing their ASIC orders on schedule.
Bitcoin miners are about to face a “sharp difficulty adjustment upwards” in eight days as the public extraction the giants accelerate their operations. According to analysts at Hashrate Index, major public miners have 76.6 EH/s on order for 2024, with 12.9 EH/s expected for delivery in the first quarter and nearly 36 EH/s expected in the second quarter.
“[…] The current hashrate increase will hit miners with a sharp difficulty adjustment upwards in approximately 8 days. It is too early to say with certainty how large the adjustment will be, but our estimate at the moment places it at +5.97%”.
Hashrate index
As of this writing, Bitcoin’s 7-day average hashrate has reached an all-time high of 659 EH/s, up 13.6% from the post-halving low of 580 EH/s, analysts say analysts, adding that at the current level, the average block time is around 9 minutes and 26 seconds.
Bitcoin 7-day average hashrate | Source: Hashrate index
Across the Bitcoin blockchain transaction landscape, analysts observed that transaction fee volumes “completely deflated” after the halving. Despite the wait for the launch of the Runes fungible token standard, trading activity “has dried up and transaction fees have fallen to normal levels,” analysts say.
At the beginning of May, analysts from the Hashrate Index expected a hashprice increase over the next six months, citing expectations of stagnant difficulty, increased transaction fees, or an increase in the price of Bitcoin. Looking ahead, US miners may reduce BTC mining in the summer, potentially slowing hashrate growth. However, analysts point out that global miners could offset this decline, offering insights into the broader landscape of hashrate expansion.