Bitcoin’s network mining difficulty declined by approximately 11.16% in its latest adjustment, the steepest drop since China’s ban on crypto mining in 2021. The adjustment took effect at block 935,429, lowering difficulty to about 125.86 trillion and pushing average block times above the protocol’s 10-minute target.
The decline follows a period of reduced network hashrate driven by weaker Bitcoin prices and operational disruptions among miners. Data indicates difficulty may fall again later this month, reflecting continued strain across the mining sector as profitability tightens and participation fluctuates.
External factors also contributed to the contraction. Severe winter weather in the United States temporarily forced several large mining operations offline, while some miners shifted capacity toward artificial intelligence data centers and other high-performance computing uses. Together, these dynamics underscore the sensitivity of Bitcoin’s mining economics to market conditions, energy reliability, and evolving infrastructure priorities.
