Bitcoin Difficulty Rises 3.87% as Hashrate Slips Ahead of Next Adjustment

Bitcoin’s mining difficulty increased by 3.87% at block height 943488, following a prior difficulty reduction of 7.76%. The adjustment marks the third increase recorded so far this year.

Difficulty rises as hashrate falls

At the latest adjustment, Bitcoin difficulty moved 3.87% higher as hashrate declined by 60.45 EH/s. The current estimate suggests a 15.73% difficulty cut is projected for the next adjustment.

Bitcoin’s difficulty rating now stands at 138.97 trillion times more difficult than at the network’s launch. The network has logged seven difficulty adjustments this year: three increases and four decreases. The most recent decrease occurred two weeks ago, after consecutive gains of 14.73% and 0.45% across the prior two epochs.

Progress toward the next adjustment

As of 4 p.m. Eastern time, 181 of the 2,016 blocks in the current epoch have been mined, placing the network at roughly 9% of the way toward the next adjustment expected on April 19, 2026. Current estimates indicate the next adjustment could reduce difficulty by 14.27%.

Block production has been slower, with 11:51 blocks signaling easing difficulty ahead.

Hashrate and revenue compression drive the shift

The change is linked to a decline in hashrate. Bitcoin.com News reported on March 28 that the network’s total computational power exceeded 1,000 EH/s (1 ZH/s), reaching 1,022 EH/s. It now sits 60.45 EH/s lower at 961.55 EH/s.

Compressed miner revenues appear to be another key factor. Mining operators have also been redirecting resources toward artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure in search of stronger returns, since deploying megawatts toward AI rather than mining BTC can generate higher returns.

Mining economics: low hashprice and limited fees

A daily hashprice of $30.67 per petahash per second (PH/s) is among the lowest revenue levels miners have faced since Bitcoin’s early years, when the asset’s valuation was far smaller.

With 106,335 blocks remaining until the next halving, conditions are expected to tighten further. Fees are also a small component of miner revenue, accounting for just 0.56% of the block reward, leaving miners with limited upside from transaction fees.

Potential impact and adjustment mechanism

With difficulty adjustments designed to respond to changes in participation, the system can lower difficulty if miners exit and hashrate declines. That mechanism is intended to draw participants back by making blocks easier to discover.