- Hashprice hits a record low of $42.78 per PH/s on August 4, 2024, amid rising mining difficulty and falling BTC prices
- Mining difficulty increased by 10.5%, reaching an all-time high, contributing to a decrease in hashrate and lower monthly revenue
- Despite lower fees and decreased transaction costs, on-chain activity remains strong with over 800,000 daily transactions
Bitcoin miners are facing some serious hurdles lately. As of early August, hashprice dropped to a record low of $42.78 per PH/s, while mining difficulty soared to an all-time high.Â
On top of that, Bitcoin prices have slid below $61,000, down from over $70,000 just days before.
Rising Challenges for Bitcoin Miners
Bitcoin miners are hitting some tough times since the fourth halving of block rewards. By early August, the hashprice—which is how much miners make per petahash per second (PH/s)—dropped to a record low of $42.78 per PH/s on August 4, 2024.
This drop came after a recent 10.5% jump in mining difficulty, pushing it to an all-time high. Plus, Bitcoin prices have fallen below $61,000, after briefly going over $70,000 just a few days earlier.
The higher difficulty and recent price drop have caused a drop in hashrate, with 48 EH/s of mining power leaving the network since July 25. July also saw the lowest monthly revenue of 2024 so far, with on-chain fees dropping significantly over the past month.
Fees collected in July were over 75% lower than in June. Since July 5, the average fee per transaction has been under $1.60, with the current average fee for transfers at 7.7 satoshis per virtual byte (sats/vB).
On-Chain Activity and Future Outlook
According to Mempool.space, most users now pay between 1-4 sats/vB, and some transfers cost less than $1. Even though fees are lower, on-chain activity is still going strong, with confirmed transactions topping 800,000 per day on four occasions since July 21. The number of confirmed transactions has consistently stayed above 445,000 per day.
Recent changes in Bitcoin mining show how miners are under increasing pressure as they deal with higher difficulty and fluctuating prices. With record difficulty, lower revenues, and falling fees, the network is facing a crucial moment. As miners adjust, Bitcoin’s network resilience will likely be put to its biggest test yet.
Conclusion
In short, Bitcoin mining is going through a tough phase with dropping revenues and rising challenges. Even though transaction fees are lower, and the network stays active, miners are feeling the squeeze. How they adapt to these conditions will be key to Bitcoin’s resilience moving forward.
