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Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Falls 11% Amid Price Slump and U.S. Storms

Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Falls 11% Amid Price Slump and U.S. Storms

Bitcoin’s mining difficulty recorded its largest drop since China’s 2021 crackdown, as falling prices and severe U.S. winter storms sharply cut hashrate and miner revenues.

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Fact Check
The evidence provided strongly and consistently supports the statement. The statement can be broken down into three claims: 1) a difficulty decrease of 11.16%, 2) a new difficulty level of 125.86 trillion, and 3) this being the largest percentage drop since 2021. Multiple high-authority sources, including The Block, news.bitcoin.com, and Phemex, explicitly confirm the exact figures of an 11.16% drop to 125.86 trillion. Furthermore, all five provided sources, without exception, corroborate that this is the largest negative adjustment since the China mining crackdown in 2021. The consistency across different types of credible sources (crypto-focused news, a major financial portal, and crypto exchanges) and the lack of any contradictory information lend high confidence to the statement's truthfulness.
Summary

Bitcoin mining difficulty fell by 11% to approximately 125.86 trillion, marking the steepest decline since China’s 2021 crackdown. The adjustment was triggered by a sharp hashrate drop due to Bitcoin’s price falling from $126,000 in October to around $69,500, coupled with widespread winter storm-related power curtailments in the U.S. Miner revenue per petahash has halved from about $70 to $35, forcing some firms to shut down or pivot into AI-focused operations, such as Bitfarms shifting to high-performance computing. While the drop reduces network competition and can improve profitability for remaining miners, it may also indicate market capitulation.

Terms & Concepts
  • Mining difficulty: A measure of how hard it is to find a new block on the Bitcoin network, adjusted periodically based on hashrate.
  • Hashrate: The computational power used per second by miners to process transactions and secure the blockchain.
  • Hashprice: Revenue earned per unit of hashrate, often measured in dollars per terahash per day.