While the profitability of the mining is eroding and the hashprice fell, the Bitcoin network records a revival of unprecedented power. This August 18, the hashrate climbed to 966 eh/s, bordering on a historic summit, despite almost zero transaction costs and increasing economic pressure on mining companies. This striking contrast between economic tension and technical robustness challenges: how does the mining ecosystem manage to maintain, even strengthen, its security in such an unfavorable context?
In short
- The Bitcoin network records a hashrate rebound, reaching 966 eh/s on August 18, just 10 eh/s from its historic record.
- This increase in calculation power occurs despite an unfavorable economic context for mining specialists.
- The hashprice drops by 7 % in five days, significantly reducing the profitability of mining operations.
- This discrepancy between technical performance and economic profitability raises questions about the sustainability of the current mining model.
A hashrate with the top fingers
The computing power of the Bitcoin network recorded an impressive rebound in August, after a significant drop, reaching 966.08 EH/S on August 18, according to Hashrateindex data.
This is a notable performance, especially since it occurs only four days after a temporary fall below the threshold of the 900 EH/S. The network is now less than 10 eh/s of its absolute peak of 976 EH/S, established earlier in the year.
This return in force, even though the price of Bitcoin oscillates around $ 116,000, seems to bear witness to a massive mobilization of material and energy resources by mining actors.
Indeed, this rebound is explained by A series of cyclical and structural factors ::
- The rapid restart of certain mining farms, probably after summer maintenance or energy adjustments;
- The continuous improvement of latest generation ASICs, more efficient and less energy -consuming;
- An effective adaptation to market conditions despite the drop in hashprice;
- Relative stability of the average validation time of blocks, around 10 minutes, allowing an adjustment of difficulty estimated at +0.13 % for August 22.
The falling hashprice and reduced costs
Beyond the technical performance of the network, the economic situation of mining specialists has been significantly degraded in recent days. The hashprice, a key indicator representing the income estimated by Petahash per second (pH/s) and per day, recorded a drop of 7 % in just five days.
On August 13, it amounted to $ 60.61/pH/s/day. He now fell to $ 56.37. This fall directly affects the margins of mining companies, already undermined by the drop in transaction costs, which only represent 0.54 % of block awards over the last 24 hours.
Such compression of income is part of an environment where the price of the flagship crypto stagnates, while fixed costs (electricity, equipment, maintenance) are constantly increasing.
In this context, only the most effective operators, equipped with latest generation machines or installed in regions with low energy cost, still seem able to maintain their profitability.
For smaller or less optimized actors, this pressure could lead to activity stops, or even sales of equipment at a loss.
This concentration of the hashrate in the hands of a reduced number of actors could challenge the decentralization of the network and its resilience in the face of possible attacks. If the technical robustness of the Bitcoin protocol does not seem to be called into question in the short term, the economic viability of the mining remains under tension. How far can mining companies absorb the drop in profitability before a structural rebalancing of the network is essential?
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