Bitcoin mining difficulty is recalibrated every two weeks to maintain an average block mining time of around 10 minutes. The recent surge in difficulty implies that miners will receive fewer bitcoins with the same equipment. For example, Argo Blockchain, a British firm, reported a 20% decrease in BTC mined in January.
Looking ahead, the next halving event for Bitcoin is set to take place in April. If the current rate of total hashrate increase continues, the difficulty could surpass 100 trillion hashes. However, the United States is facing regulatory challenges in this sector. Recently, the government demanded detailed information from all mining companies regarding their activities, farms, and equipment, imposing heavy fines for non-compliance.
“This is definitely not how the federal government should be handling a new and growing industry that has enormous potential. The Bitcoin mining industry is filled with innovators and business builders, we need to encourage them, not threaten them,” commented Satoshi Act Fund CEO Dennis Porter.
Previously, Bits.Media published an extensive article discussing the future of mining after the upcoming halving event.