Bitcoin Hashrate Surpasses 1 Zetahash, Mining Difficulty Hits All-Time High

Bitcoin's hashrate, a measure of the computational power used to mine the cryptocurrency, has surpassed one zetahash for the first time. The intraday peak value reached approximately 1025 EH/s, according to data from Glassnode. This milestone signifies a substantial increase in the network's security and the collective mining power dedicated to the Bitcoin network.

The seven-day moving average of the hashrate hit a high of 897.6 EH/s on April 6, indicating a sustained period of high mining activity. On April 5, the mining difficulty updated to an all-time high of 121.51 T, marking a 6.81% increase. This surge in difficulty reflects the growing competition among miners to validate transactions and add new blocks to the blockchain.

The current prediction is for the next recalculation in about 11 days, which is expected to reduce complexity by 0.5%. Despite the high hashrate, the price of Bitcoin experienced a temporary collapse below $75,000 on April 7, although it has since recovered to trade around $80,000.

Analysts have noted an alarming trend where the Bitcoin price is moving in the opposite direction of the network's hashrate growth. The hashprice, which represents the daily revenue per PH/s of mining power, has fallen to its lowest since the beginning of the year at approximately $40 per day per PH/s. This is more than half the levels recorded a year ago before the halving of the April 20.

For miners to remain profitable, a high Bitcoin price, full blocks, and high transaction fees are crucial. However, the first cryptocurrency is facing challenges with all three components. At the end of the first quarter, the share of network fees in the total revenue of miners was only 1.33%. This has led industry participants to diversify into the more lucrative field of high-performance computing (HPC), targeting the AI sector.

Bitfarms has reached a preliminary agreement with Macquarie Group and secured a $300 million loan to finance the development of its Panther Creek HPC project. Galaxy Digital signed a 15-year agreement with CoreWeave, providing the AI firm with 200 MW of infrastructure at the Helios data center in Texas. Galaxy's revenue under the contract is expected to reach $4.5 billion.

Bitcoin miners in the United States will be directly affected by the import tariffs announced on April 2. The majority of cryptocurrency mining devices are imported from Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. The new duty rates range from 24% to 36%, which will increase the cost of equipment and potentially suppress further development of the sector.

Blockware Solutions founder and CEO Mason Jappa noted that rigs already landed in the USA will become more valuable. BitMars general manager Summer Meng added China to the list of affected regions, emphasizing that all factories of Bitmain, the largest manufacturer of bitcoin mining equipment, will be impacted. The Mining Pod specialists assessed that Bitmain occupies about 80% of the ASIC miner market, with another 7% accounted for by MicroBT.

Both companies have previously announced opening production lines in the US, but their scale remains unknown, and chips for the plants are still imported from overseas. Blockware Solutions analyst Mitchell Askew called the impact of the tariffs "huge," predicting a reduction in imports and increased domestic demand. This could lead to a significant jump in ASIC miner prices, potentially 5-10 times higher than in 2021.

Some equipment vendors are rushing to ship their rigs before the tariffs take effect. Lauren Lin, head of equipment at service company Luxor Technology, has less than two days to ship 5,600 rigs from Thailand to the United States. The cost of equipment makes up a significant part of miners' expenses, and a more than 20% increase in procurement costs will significantly affect the profitability of the business.

Synteq Digital CEO Taras Kulik believes that the announced tariffs will "suppress further development of the sector." Wolfie Zhao, head of research at TheMinerMag, added that if the new import duties affect key components, North American mining operators will face higher capital costs, adding pressure to an already cooling market.