Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Hits 148 Trillion

The Bitcoin network saw a 5.54% jump in mining difficulty on October 29. The metric reached 148.36 trillion following a previous 5.92% adjustment in the middle of the month.

The rise in difficulty reflects a significant recovery in the network's computational power. Data shows that the hashrate has climbed 21% since July, adding about 185 exahashes per second to the system. The current processing level is the highest in seven months.

This expansion occurs despite the migration of several industry firms toward artificial intelligence infrastructure. The shift back to Bitcoin marks the largest absolute addition of computational power during a recovery period since 2018.

However, the financial landscape for miners presents challenges. Daily revenue has fallen to approximately 33 dollars per petahash per second. This figure is the lowest level recorded since August, putting pressure on the profitability of older machines with high energy costs.

The increase in mining difficulty raises the operational cost of issuing new coins, which may impact selling pressure from miners and the liquidity available in the digital asset market.