Bitcoin's mining difficulty has experienced a slight decrease after reaching a record high at the end of May. This change draws attention to potential impacts on miners in current conditions.
Bitcoin’s Mining Difficulty Decrease
On June 15, the Bitcoin network recorded a small decrease in mining difficulty, adjusting to approximately 126.4 trillion after an all-time high of 126.9 trillion on May 31, according to data from CryptoQuant. Mining difficulty is adjusted approximately every two weeks to reflect changes in the total hashrate, which is the sum of all miners' computing power.
Challenges for Small Miners
Despite the slight decrease in difficulty, many miners are facing rising costs. The scheduled reduction in block rewards to 3.125 BTC from 6.25 BTC, which occurs every four years, significantly lowers miner revenues. Rising electricity prices and hardware costs have also created additional troubles, especially for smaller mining operations that are often on the brink of profitability.
Large Companies Continue to Expand Mining
Despite industry challenges, large publicly traded companies like Marathon Digital Holdings and CleanSpark are ramping up Bitcoin production. Marathon reported a 35% increase in Bitcoin mined in May while maintaining its strategy of holding onto mined cryptocurrency in its corporate treasury. Similarly, CleanSpark reported a 9% increase in production due to investments in clean energy and improved hardware. These companies currently view Bitcoin as a strategic asset.
The decrease in Bitcoin mining difficulty and rising costs present new challenges for miners, but large players in the market continue to focus on increasing production and holding cryptocurrency as a valuable asset.
