TechFlow News, February 20: According to CoinDesk, Bitcoin’s mining difficulty increased to 144.4 T early today—a rise of approximately 15%, marking the largest percentage increase since China’s comprehensive ban on cryptocurrency mining in 2021. Bitcoin hashrate has rebounded from a previous 826 EH/s to 1 ZH/s, even as the current hashrate price remains at a multi-year low of roughly $23.9 per PH/s.
Previously, severe winter storms in the U.S. forced several major mining companies to scale back operations, triggering the most significant decline in Bitcoin hashrate since late 2021 and causing mining difficulty to drop by 12%. Although Bitcoin’s price fell from its October high of approximately $126,500 to a February low near $60,000 (and has since recovered to around $67,000), large-scale operators with access to low-cost energy continue actively mining, sustaining network hashrate resilience.
