Bitcoin’s mining network has surpassed a historic threshold, exceeding 1 Zettahash per second (ZH/s) for the first time, a sign of unprecedented network security but also increasing financial stress for miners.
Bitcoin Hashrate Surpasses 1 Zettahash as Miner Income Drops to Record Level
Bitcoin’s hashrate briefly reached 1 ZH/s (1,000 exahashes per second) on Friday, marking a massive jump from the initial 1 EH/s milestone in 2016, according to on-chain data from Glassnode.
The previous all-time high was set on January 31, when the network reached 975 EH/s.
This milestone comes despite the Bitcoin price falling nearly 10% last week to around $77,000 due to macroeconomic headwinds, including market volatility triggered by President Trump’s new tariffs.
Network Difficulty Reaches All-Time High
Bitcoin’s rising hashrate triggered a nearly 7% increase in the network’s mining difficulty on Sunday, the largest upward adjustment since July 2024. The difficulty level currently stands at a record 121.5 trillion (T), according to Glassnode.
Bitcoin’s built-in difficulty adjustment occurs approximately every two weeks to ensure that blocks continue to be mined within a fixed 10-minute interval regardless of fluctuations in mining power.
14 of the last 17 corrections have been positive, indicating continued growth in miner participation despite declining profitability.
Miner Revenues Drop to Historic Lows
The new hashrate record underscores Bitcoin’s network security while also highlighting the increasing financial pressure on miners.
Hashprice, a key metric measuring miner revenue per compute power, has fallen to an all-time low of $42.40 per EH/s per day. The decline is attributed to a combination of factors:
- Increasing network challenges
- Weak transaction fee market
- Stagnant Bitcoin price performance
While hashrate growth is generally viewed as bullish for Bitcoin’s long-term durability, many miners are facing increasing margin pressure, particularly smaller operations with higher energy costs.
*This is not investment advice.
