Bitcoin’s mining landscape is poised for another challenge as mining difficulty is set to rise by nearly 8% today, Feb. 15.
Data from CoinWarz shows that this increase, which is expected to hit a new record high, will surpass 81 trillion at block height 830,592. The network is expected to reach this milestone by 3:16 pm UTC.
This surge is part of an ongoing trend observed since the year’s onset, reflecting the escalating computational demands confronting miners on the premier digital asset network, especially with the looming halving event.
Bitcoin’s mining difficulty undergoes readjustments every 2,016 blocks, roughly every two weeks. The process is crucial for the network to gauge whether miner activities during the period resulted in reduced or increased block discovery time.
An uptick in mining difficulty translates to miners needing to deploy more computational power to mine a block. Moreover, it signifies a growing influx of miners into the network, intensifying the computational workload. In addition, a higher difficulty equates to a more resilient blockchain, as it escalates the energy required to mount an attack on the network.
Miners under scrutiny
The increase in mining difficulty arrives at a time when the industry faces continues to face scrutiny over its electricity usage.
Last week, CryptoSlate reported that the US government, through the Energy Information Administration (EIA), wants to gather information from miners about the broader implications of their activities in the country. However, the mining community described the move as “Operation Chokepoint 3.0.”
Dennis Porter, the CEO of Satoshi Act Fund, revealed that miners have begun receiving letters forcing them to report sensitive data or “face huge fines” if they do not 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 said.