The Bitcoin (BTC) mining difficulty, which gauges the complexity of adding new blocks to the blockchain, has surged to a new record of 142.3 trillion as of Friday.
This mining difficulty has reached consecutive all-time highs in August and September, propelled by a significant influx of new computing power in recent weeks.
Bitcoin’s hashrate, reflecting the aggregate computing power securing the decentralized monetary framework, also soared to an unprecedented level of over 1.1 trillion hashes per second on Friday, as reported by CryptoQuant.
The escalating mining difficulty and the ongoing demand for energy-intensive, high-performance computing to secure the network pose challenges for individual miners and corporations, raising concerns about the increasing centralization of Bitcoin mining.
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Publicly traded companies face pressure from governments and energy providers
Smaller miners, along with public companies, are encountering intensified competition from governments that leverage free energy resources and from energy providers keen on integrating Bitcoin mining into their operations.
Several countries, including Bhutan, Pakistan, and El Salvador, are either already mining Bitcoin or investigating the use of excess or surplus energy for mining activities.
In May, Pakistan’s government revealed its intention to allocate 2,000 megawatts (MW) of surplus energy specifically for Bitcoin mining, part of a broader regulatory shift towards cryptocurrencies and digital assets.
Energy providers in Texas are also weaving Bitcoin mining into their infrastructure to stabilize electrical loads, collaborating with the Energy Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).
Electrical grids often struggle with either insufficient energy to meet consumer demands during peak periods or an excess of surplus energy during low-demand times. This imbalance can harm the electrical grid and present risks if not managed effectively.
In Texas, energy companies utilize Bitcoin mining as a controllable load resource, consuming surplus energy during off-peak times and deactivating mining rigs during peak demand, thus generating profits without facing the variable costs of energy, positioning them advantageously over publicly traded mining companies.
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