Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Surges on Rising Computing Power Despite Revenue Squeeze

05 November 2026

Bitcoin's latest mining difficulty adjustment highlights a sustained increase in global hashpower, even as declining revenues strain older equipment.

Bitcoin’s mining difficulty hit 148.36 trillion—up 5.54% from 140.58 trillion—with the regular adjustment that took effect at block 973,728 on Oct. 29. It marked the second significant rise this month, following a 5.92% increase on Oct. 16.

This automatic adjustment forces mining hardware to expend more effort to discover new blocks, squeezing miner profits when daily revenues have dropped to their lowest point since August 2022, according to data from CryptoSlate.

Harun Onur Uluyol, a CryptoSlate analyst, noted that the two October adjustments combined will cut Bitcoin mining profitability by 10.5%, assuming stable Bitcoin prices, blockspace usage, and mining costs.

How Difficulty Adjustments Work

The difficulty adjustment is an automated Bitcoin protocol feature that occurs every 2,016 blocks—roughly every two weeks—to maintain an average block time of ten minutes. As solving cryptographic puzzles grows more complex, machines require more time and energy per block. Higher difficulty means greater computational effort for the same 6.25 Bitcoin reward.

The Oct. 29 adjustment, arriving slightly early, signals miners have been rapidly adding hashing power to the network.

With shrinking rewards, many mining operations now face thinning margins—some unsustainable. CryptoSlate calculated that a typical 25-joule-per-terahash mining rig would lose $3.32 daily per petahash/second at electricity rates of 6 cents per kilowatt-hour.

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Uluyol suggested heavy investment in newer, more efficient hardware indicates miner optimism. A 20-joule-per-terahash unit could yield an $8 daily profit after covering power costs, though further price drops or hashrate growth might render older equipment unprofitable.

The hashrate recovery reflects both reactivated older mining farms capitalizing on Bitcoin's price rebound and deployment of advanced mining rigs.

Miners have increasingly adopted AI chips optimized for intensive computations, while soaring demand for gaming GPUs and their adaptability for AI workloads has pressured Bitcoin mining profitability.

Bitcoin's hashrate has climbed 21% over 102 days to within 6% of its all-time high, adding 185 exahashes/second of processing power.

As difficulty rises, mining firms must reduce costs to survive. Some operators have begun shutting down, while others explore alternative strategies to remain viable.