Bitcoin mining difficulty has decreased by 3.34%, ending a series of four consecutive increases, providing a bit of 'breathability' for the mining community.
The Bitcoin network has just recorded a decrease in difficulty for the first time after a series of four consecutive increases lasting over the past two months. At block height 895,104, the difficulty index dropped by 3.34%, from 123.23 trillion to 119.12 trillion. This is the first time since the adjustment on March 9, 2025, that Bitcoin mining difficulty has recorded a decline.
Bitcoin difficulty according to statistics collected by mempool.space.
The current difficulty of the Bitcoin network - a dynamic metric reflecting the computational complexity required to find the next valid block - is at 119.12 trillion. Practically, this figure estimates the number of hash attempts that a miner needs to make, averaging 119.12 trillion guesses, to find a valid block. This mechanism is designed to ensure an average block appearance rate of about 10 minutes, regardless of how the total computing power (hashpower) changes.
The network hashrate according to hashrateindex.com on May 4, 2025. Miners benefit even though block time remains high.
As of Sunday, May 4, the Bitcoin network is operating with a total computing power (hashrate) of 885.51 exahashes per second (EH/s), equivalent to nearly 885 trillion SHA-256 calculations being performed every second globally. However, even after the difficulty decrease, the average block creation time still exceeds the target of 10 minutes, currently at about 10 minutes and 22 seconds.
If this trend continues, there may be another decrease in difficulty on May 18. However, the hashrate can fluctuate at any time - if it increases sharply, the block time may shorten and reverse the forecast for the next adjustment.
A notable highlight is that miners’ profits have improved significantly recently. Hashprice - estimated daily revenue per petahash per second (PH/s) of SHA256 computing power - has increased significantly from $45.87 on April 4 to $50.80 as of now. This increase in revenue has contributed to boosting the total hashrate across the network, from 824 EH/s on April 27 to the current 885.51 EH/s.
