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- Bitcoin mining difficulty surged 10.5% to 90.67 trillion, marking the largest increase of 2024 and the most significant since October 2022.
- The difficulty increase comes amid a slight decline in Bitcoin’s price, currently trading between $65,925 and $66,021.
- Despite rising mining difficulty, Riot Platforms, a NASDAQ-listed Bitcoin miner, reported a net loss of $84.4 million in its latest quarterly report.
On Wednesday, at block height 854,784, Bitcoin experienced its largest mining difficulty increase of the year and the most significant since October 2022. The difficulty rose by 10.5%, from 82.05 trillion to 90.67 trillion, marking a 10% increase in the effort needed to mine a block compared to the previous 2,016 blocks or two weeks.
The last similar increase occurred on October 10, 2022, while a slightly smaller rise of 10.26% was recorded on January 15, 2023. And this increase comes amid a decline in Bitcoin’s price, which is currently trading between $65,925 and $66,021, noticeably lower than the previous week.
Crypto enthusiast and founder of CryptoSea, who goes by the name “Crypto Rover” has also recently posted on X (formerly Twitter), saying “Bitcoin Mining Difficulty just hit a new ATH again!”
Additionally, another user on X commented that the record-breaking Bitcoin mining difficulty highlights the network’s robustness. They noted that this increase would likely lead to more competition and potential rewards for miners.
Amid the rising Bitcoin mining difficulty, NASDAQ-listed Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms reported a net loss of $84.4 million in its latest quarterly financial report, despite the relatively stable price of Bitcoin. The loss was primarily attributed to a 52% year-over-year decline in the number of Bitcoin mined between April 1 and June 31, as reported by Riot on Wednesday.
Additionally, the company faced a non-cash stock-based compensation expense of $32.1 million and depreciation and amortization costs totaling $37.3 million.
