Bitcoin (BTC)  hash rate hits new peak, but profitability tumbles

The Bitcoin network hash rate has surpassed 540 exahashes per second, a new all-time high. However, hash price and profitability are once again declining. On Christmas Day, Bitcoin network computing power or mining hash rate set a new all-time high, putting extra pressure on miners amid a drop in profitability. According to Blockchain.com, Bitcoin’s hash rate achieved an all-time high of 544 exahashes per second (EH/s) on December 25. Bitinfocharts corroborated the findings, reporting an average hash rate peak over the weekend. It comes at a time when network hash rates have more than doubled this year, increasing 130% since January. “The summer 2021 China mining ban is barely a blip,” noted Reflexivity Research co-founder Will Clemente, looking at the hash rate on a logarithmic scale. “Imagine fading the most secure decentralized open-source monetary network on the planet, couldn’t be me.” A high hash rate is excellent for theoretical price models like implied hash-adjusted price, but it is bad for miners who must work harder to secure the next block. 

The hash price, which is a measure of profitability, has plummeted in the last week as the BRC-20 ordinal inscription mania has subsided. According to HashrateIndex, the current hash price is $0.09 per terahash per second per day. Profitability has dropped 34% since its December 17 high of $0.136/TH/s/day in 2023. Hash price frequently jumps during periods of heavy demand, resulting in hefty transaction fees, such as during the current inscriptions craze. “We’re approaching almost an entire year without fully clearing Bitcoin mempools, having sustained elevated fee pressure since Feb,” said a Glassnode researcher. “Checkmatey.”

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