From 920 EH/s to 868 EH/s: Bitcoin computing power dropped by 50 EH/s

After reaching an all-time high of 926 exahashes per second (EH/s) and increasing difficulty by 1.42% to 123.23 trillion, approximately 52 EH/s have left the network since April 17.

Increased difficulty and decreased hashrate lead to increased block times

Bitcoin's hashrate has fallen since last Thursday, when it was 920 EH/s, just shy of its April 8 record of 926 EH/s. Since April 17, when the hashrate was at 920 EH/s, the network has lost 52 EH/s, leaving the current value at 868 EH/s.

The shift coincides with a rise in mining profitability over the past 24 hours, as the hash price — or the implied spot price of one petahash per second of hashing power — rose from $43.53 to $45.73 by 11 a.m. ET on Monday. Bitcoin’s move above $88,000 has helped drive the hash price and mining profits higher.

Bitcoin network hashrate as of April 21, 2025, 7-day simple moving average (SMA) according to hashrateindex.com.

In contrast, on April 19, at block height 893,088, the network difficulty increased to a record 123.23 trillion. This was the fourth difficulty adjustment since block height 887,040, making it much more difficult for miners to find blocks.

These changes show how miner behavior quickly responds to economic conditions and protocol adjustments, reflecting a delicate balance of incentives and concerns. As profitability increases and difficulty rises, the network equilibrium continually changes, demonstrating the flexibility, resilience, and adaptability of the Bitcoin mechanism.

After the latest difficulty increase and hashrate decrease, block intervals are now around 10 minutes, with an average of 57 seconds. This resistance suggests that the next difficulty adjustment could see a significant decrease, but it is too early to tell as the recalibration is scheduled for around May 4, 2025. However, current projections point to a notable decrease of 8.7%.

Source: cryptonews.net