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According to the latest blockchain data, Bitcoin’s hashrate has been on the rise as it touched an all-time high on Friday, January 3, 2025. This new peak comes as the main cryptocurrency continues to recover after a disappointing end to 2024. .
Positive Correlation Between Bitcoin Price and Hashrate
“Hashrate” is a metric that measures the total amount of computing power that secures a proof-of-work blockchain network (Bitcoin, in this case). It is used to determine the mining difficulty of blockchain network participation and gauge.
When the hashrate metric increases, it indicates that Bitcoin miners are contributing more computing resources to the network, and the blockchain is more secure as a result. Meanwhile, a low hashrate suggests reduced network participation and less security.
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On Friday, Bitcoin’s hashrate briefly hit a new record high of over 1,000 exahashes per second (EH/s). According to the latest on-chain data, the hashrate is back to around 783.02 EH/s, as of this writing.
Data from CoinWarz shows that this new high Bitcoin hashrate is almost double its value from last year. As of January 2024, the BTC network hashrate stands at around 510 EH/s.
From a historical perspective, there is a positive correlation between the hashrate of the network and the price of Bitcoin. For example, the large hashrate increases during the bull cycle of 2017 and 2021 skipped important price rallies.
In addition, a high hashrate indicates strong network foundations, which can improve the sentiment surrounding the cryptocurrency startup. While this may not lead to an immediate increase, it can contribute to price growth in the long run.
As of this writing, the price of Bitcoin is around $98,264, showing an increase of almost 2% in the last 24 hours. This optimistic one-day action adds to a strong weekly performance, with the top cryptocurrency up nearly 5% over the past seven days.
US Mining Pools Now Account for 40% of Global Hashrate: Report
A new report revealed that the United States will account for more than 40% of the global Bitcoin hashrate by the end of 2024. In particular, two US-based mining pools, Foundry USA and MARA Pool, were responsible for more than 38.5% of all mined blocks. .
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A report by TheMinerMag showed that Foundry USA improved its hashrate from 157 EH/s in early 2024 to around 280 EH/s in December to become the largest mining pool by hashrate. Meanwhile, the MARA Pool makes up about 4.35% of the world’s hash power.
While this represents the United States’ significant growth in the BTC mining industry, Chinese mining pools still control the majority of the total hashrate. Despite the country’s crypto ban, Chinese mining pools control 55% of the global hashrate, as of September 2024.
Featured image from iStock, chart from TradingView