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The Bitcoin network\u2019s hashrate has been operating at very high processing speeds during the last few weeks, as the overall hashrate touched a whopping 171.2 exahash per second (EH\/s) on Monday. Moreover, the network\u2019s mining difficulty has also touched an all-time high (ATH) at 20.61 trillion, the highest difficulty the network has ever experienced in the last 12 years. <\/strong><\/p>\n One aspect of the Bitcoin (BTC<\/a>) network that people look at to measure the protocol\u2019s overall health and growth is the hashrate. At the time of publication, the BTC<\/a> hashrate is processing at speeds of around 165.38 EH\/s and the miner\u2019s collective hashpower has been nearing all-time highs again. For instance, on December 30, 2020, the network hashrate spiked to a colossal 178.6 EH\/s and 12 days later the hashrate hit 171.2 EH\/s<\/a>.<\/p>\n What has surpassed its ATH is BTC<\/a>\u2019s network mining difficulty or difficulty adjustment algorithm (DAA). This week the mining difficulty is the highest the difficulty has ever been in Bitcoin\u2019s lifetime to-date. After the significant price dip on Monday and the accelerated hashrate the same day, the protocol pushed the mining difficulty to 20.61T.<\/a><\/p>\n Because the hashrate is so high entering the second week of January 2021, the Bitcoin network\u2019s difficulty<\/a> will increase +9.98% or 22.66T, another ATH in less than two weeks. This will take place in roughly nine days from now, give or take, depending on the average output of blocks per day.<\/p>\n The BTC<\/a> hashrate has increased a great deal over the years, as the entire network\u2019s hashrate was only one exahash per second back in January 2016. On May 8, 2017, news.Bitcoin.com reported on the BTC<\/a> network hashrate touching 4,216,797,036 GH\/s or over 4 EH\/s. Since then and through the 2018 and 2019 bear market, the Bitcoin hashrate has grown over 3,700%.<\/p>\n Before the May block reward halving, bitcoin miners got 12.5 BTC<\/a> per block found but these days, a bitcoin mining pool only gets 6.25 BTC<\/a> per block reward. Today\u2019s 165 EH\/s is the aggregate hashrate of all 18 bitcoin mining pools putting in \u201cwork\u201d in the SHA256 \u201cproof-of-work\u201d consensus algorithm.<\/p>\n With a block reward found every ten minutes or so, the Bitcoin block inflation rate per annum is only 1.78% during the first month of 2021. So far, even with this week\u2019s BTC<\/a> price drop miners are still profiting a great deal by dedicating hashrate to the chain. Statistics show at even $0.12 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) more than 200 application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) devices that process the SHA256 algorithm are profiting today.<\/p>\n Bitcoin proponents are quite confident with the overall hashrate and security of the cryptocurrency network. In a thread about BTC<\/a> confidence, the bitcoiner Pierre Rochard explained<\/a> that if people are \u201cconfident about Bitcoin\u2019s fundamentals, then the exchange rate volatility is just\u2014 a joyful melody.\u201d<\/p>\n Rochard also said<\/a>:<\/p>\n Confidence in being able to send bitcoin. Bitcoin\u2019s global peer-to-peer network of nodes and the massive mining hashrate ensure that your bitcoin gets to where you are sending them without foreign interference.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n <\/ins> <\/ins> <\/p>\n Meanwhile, a number of dominant cryptocurrency exchanges are joining the mining industry. On Wednesday, the reporter Colin Wu (@Wublockchain<\/a>) discussed how Huobi is entering the mining economy. \u201cChina\u2019s largest exchange Huobi is about to start the sale of BTC<\/a> mining machines,\u201d Wu said<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cInvestors can purchase machines + custody services. The lock-in period is two years. Chinese exchanges are entering the mining field more. The Binance mining pool, which was launched in 2020, once ranked second in the total BTC<\/a> network, surpassing a large number of traditional mining pools,\u201d the finance reporter from China added.<\/p>\n![\"Rapid](\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/hash22.jpg\" "\\"Rapid")
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