Crypto investors might be nursing some serious portfolio bruises this week, but bitcoin miners have their own headache — earnings per petahash just hit a five-month low, and it’s not exactly the kind of milestone anyone’s celebrating.
Bitcoin Miners Pray for a Break
Let’s face it — since July 11, bitcoin miners have been watching their revenues shrink faster than an ice cube in the sun.
Hashprice stats hosted at hashrateindex.com, or the expected daily value of 1 petahash per second (PH/s) of hashing power, slid from $63.92 to a chilly $46.92 per PH/s. That translates to a 26.58% revenue drop — and this didn’t just happen overnight.
Three-month Bitcoin hashprice via hashrateindex.com.
The downtrend’s been dragging on for weeks, slowly chipping away at miners’ profits like a leaky faucet that just won’t quit. Even when BTC was sitting pretty at $126,272 on Oct. 6, the hashprice at $52.77 was still lagging — down 1,745 basis points (17.45%) from July’s petahash value. On top of that, BTC miners just took another hit — a drop of over 9% since Monday.
At these price levels, bitcoin isn’t exactly doing miners any favors — most are probably praying to the hash gods for a rebound. Their next lifeline? The upcoming difficulty adjustment on Oct. 16. Despite the hashrate cruising above the 1,000 exahash per second (EH/s) mark, block intervals have been dragging their feet.
Right now, block times are running about 37 seconds slower than the 10-minute average. Current estimates point to a potential 5.84% difficulty drop on Oct. 16, which could finally offer some breathing room. For now, though, difficulty sits at an all-time high of 150.84 trillion — the heaviest weight miners have ever hauled.
In short, bitcoin miners are grinding through one of the toughest stretches in five months, squeezed between record difficulty and dwindling rewards. Unless the next adjustment lightens the load or prices climb, it’s going to be a long haul to brighter block days.
💡 FAQ
Why are bitcoin miners earning less right now? Mining revenues have dropped 27% over five months due to falling hashprice and record-high network difficulty.
What is Bitcoin’s current mining difficulty? As of now, bitcoin’s mining difficulty sits at an all-time high of 150.84 trillion.
When is the next Bitcoin difficulty adjustment? The next difficulty change is expected on Oct. 16, with a projected 5.84% reduction. Difficulty estimates could change over the next 500 blocks.
How is Bitcoin’s hashrate performing? Bitcoin’s hashrate remains strong above 1,000 exahash per second (EH/s) despite slower block intervals.