The Bitcoin mining difficulty, which was last adjusted on April 24, seems to have felt the real impact of the halving now. The difficulty, which automatically adjusts every 2016 block, reached its new level today at 14 p.m. PT, the most severe drop since December 6, 2022. On that day, Bitcoin was trading at around $17,000 as FTX plunged into bankruptcy.

The difficulty set at block 842,688 fell to 83.1 trillion. On April 24, just a few days after the halving, the difficulty reached 88 trillion. The surge was fueled by Runes tokens, which were launched in conjunction with the halving and attracted a frenzy of interest.

Miners can take a breath

As is well known, the difficulty is actually directly proportional to how many machines are being mined… The more miners who can’t cope with the difficulty and shut down their machines, the lower the difficulty level, and the remaining, relatively strong miners can mine blocks more easily. So, after the halving, miners who had already seen their rewards cut in half (3,125 BTC) were putting in more effort and earning less. Therefore, the reduction in difficulty may give them a breather for a while.

Along with the difficulty, the hash rate also decreased. The rate dropped below 600 exahashes per second.