Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Expected to Climb to New High Amid Rising Hashrate

Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Expected to Hit New Record as Hashrate Approaches Historic High

Bitcoin’s mining difficulty is set to rise by more than 4%, reaching an unprecedented level of approximately 126.95 trillion (T), driven by a surge in hashrate and increased miner participation—even as transaction fees remain notably low.

The upcoming difficulty adjustment, scheduled to finalize within the next 100 blocks, will break the existing record of 123T. Starting the year at 109T, Bitcoin’s mining difficulty has steadily climbed, according to Coinwarz data.

This difficulty increase aligns with a rise in the network’s computational power, measured by the seven-day moving average hashrate, which recently reached 918 exahashes per second (EH/s). This is up from 840 EH/s just two weeks ago, inching closer to the all-time high of 925 EH/s.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin transaction fees remain modest, with a high-priority transaction currently costing about 2 satoshis per virtual byte (sat/vB), roughly $0.30. Miners prioritize transactions offering higher fees, which speeds up confirmation times.

These trends illustrate a divergence within the Bitcoin network: while mining power and security continue to strengthen, on-chain transaction demand and fees remain low, reflecting a growing infrastructure amid restrained user activity.