Bitcoin network hashrate reaches seven-month high

Bitcoin’s seven-day average hashrate has climbed above 1 zettahash per second (ZH/s), marking its highest level since March 3. This surge in computing power occurs even as several major publicly traded mining companies divert capacity toward artificial intelligence and high-performance computing workloads.

While the shift to AI has caused a 23% decline in the realized hashrate of publicly traded miners, the overall network hashrate is recovering. This suggests that smaller and mid-sized operators may be absorbing displaced capacity, sometimes by utilizing secondhand hardware.

As a result of the increased competition, Bitcoin’s mining difficulty rose by 5.92% on October 16, reaching 140.58 trillion. Projections indicate a further increase of approximately 5% to 6% at the next adjustment. This rising difficulty is compressing hashprice—the revenue per unit of hashrate—which fell to approximately $36.75 per petahash per day, putting margin pressure on mid-tier operators using older hardware.