Bitcoin mining difficulty rises 5.54% to 148.36 trillion as revenue hits three-month low

Bitcoin mining difficulty increased 5.54% on October 29 as recovering network computing power intensified competition among miners facing declining revenue. Nodewitness data shows difficulty reached 148.36 trillion from 140.58 trillion. Nodewitness also recorded a 5.92% increase on October 16. Mining revenue has reached a three-month low, with Startmining data putting hashprice at approximately $33 per PH/s per day, the weakest since August. Hashprice expresses expected daily mining revenue per petahash per second of computing power. September's average hashprice was $40 per PH/s per day, when difficulty was substantially lower.

Real Vision chief crypto analyst Jamie Coutts described a substantial recovery after one of the network's sharpest contractions in years. Coutts said the 14-day average hashrate fell 23% from the October 2025 peak to February 2026, the largest decline since China's 2021 mining ban. Severe winter weather temporarily interrupted mining operations and contributed to the contraction. Concerns that mining companies were leaving Bitcoin production for more profitable artificial intelligence infrastructure opportunities also contributed to the contraction. Network computing power initially rebounded but weakened again through July, renewing doubts about miners' long-term commitment to Bitcoin production.

Coutts said the downward trend reversed substantially after July 17. Coutts calculated a 21% hashrate increase over the following 102 days, representing approximately 185 exahashes per second (EH/s) of additional computing power. Coutts said the recovery brought hashrate within 6% of the previous record. Coutts described the absolute increase as the largest for a comparable hashrate recovery since 2018, although the percentage increase was less unusual historically. Look Into Bitcoin data places network computing power at a seven-month high.

Several publicly traded mining companies have increasingly adopted business models focused on high-performance computing and AI data centers. Long-term infrastructure contracts in those businesses can offer more predictable revenue than Bitcoin mining. However, the network recovery suggests capacity is growing elsewhere, potentially compensating for equipment redirected or retired by companies pursuing AI opportunities. The additional computing power also helps explain the recent difficulty increases. Bitcoin recalibrates difficulty after every 2,016 blocks, approximately every two weeks, to keep average block production at 10 minutes. The network increases difficulty when additional computing power makes block discovery faster than the target.

Coutts interpreted the recovery as evidence of stronger network security and continued confidence among operators deploying computing resources under difficult market conditions. Coutts said additional computing power makes attacks on Bitcoin more expensive. Coutts said expansion despite narrow margins suggests miners continue investing in Bitcoin's long-term prospects. However, higher difficulty requires individual miners to perform more computational work for the same expected Bitcoin earnings, worsening existing electricity and infrastructure cost pressures. The latest adjustment reduces expected Bitcoin earnings per unit of unchanged computing power by approximately 5.24%, provided transaction fees and other conditions stay constant. The two October adjustments together reduce expected earnings by approximately 10.5%. Miners therefore receive substantially less revenue from unchanged computing capacity before electricity, maintenance, hosting and financing expenses.

Older, less efficient mining equipment faces particularly severe pressure. At a gross hashprice of $33.35 per PH/s per day, equipment consuming 25 joules per terahash would earn approximately $32.68 daily per PH/s after an assumed 2% pool fee. Electricity priced at 6 cents per kilowatt-hour would cost the same equipment $36 daily per PH/s. The resulting daily shortfall would be $3.32 per PH/s before other operating expenses. Equipment consuming 20 joules per terahash would instead incur $28.80 in daily electricity costs per PH/s under the same assumptions. The more efficient equipment would retain a small surplus before additional expenses. Equipment consuming 25 joules per terahash needs electricity priced at approximately 5.45 cents per kilowatt-hour or less merely to cover machine power consumption at the current hashprice.

The recovery is increasing the financial gap between miners using efficient machines and cheap electricity and miners using older equipment at higher costs. The economics make expanding computing capacity increasingly difficult for miners. Additional equipment improves network security but increases competition for available block rewards, further reducing the revenue supporting mining investment.