Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Hits All-Time High Amid Growing Scrutiny Over Energy Usage

Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Hits All-Time High Amid Growing Scrutiny Over Energy Usage

Crypto News – Bitcoin’s mining landscape faces yet another challenge as mining difficulty is poised to increase by nearly 8% today, February 15th.

According to data from CoinWarz, this impending surge, projected to set a new record high, will surpass 81 trillion at block height 830,592. The network is anticipated to reach this milestone by 3:16 pm UTC.

This surge aligns with an ongoing trend observed since the beginning of the year, reflecting the escalating computational demands confronting miners on the leading digital asset network, particularly with the impending halving event.

Bitcoin’s mining difficulty undergoes adjustments every 2,016 blocks, approximately every two weeks. This process is critical for the network to assess whether miner activities during the period resulted in reduced or increased block discovery time.

An increase in mining difficulty implies that miners must deploy more computational power to mine a block. Furthermore, it signifies a growing influx of miners into the network, intensifying the computational workload. Additionally, higher difficulty equates to a more resilient blockchain, as it elevates the energy required to mount an attack on the network.

Miners are under scrutiny as this increase in mining difficulty coincides with continued scrutiny over the industry’s electricity usage.

Last week, CryptoSlate reported that the US government, through the Energy Information Administration (EIA), aims to gather information from miners regarding the broader implications of their activities in the country. However, the mining community has described this move as “Operation Chokepoint 3.0.“

Dennis Porter, CEO of Satoshi Act Fund, disclosed that miners have begun receiving letters compelling them to report sensitive data or “face huge fines” if they fail to respond within ten days.

“This is NOT how the Federal Government should be interacting with a new and growing industry that has so much potential. The Bitcoin mining industry is filled with innovators and builders. We should be encouraging them, not threatening them,” Porter emphasized.