Bitcoin (BTC) mining difficulty is used to measure the ease of writing new blocks into the ledger. On Friday, this value rose to a historic high of 142.3 trillion.
In August and September, mining difficulty continuously set new historical records, mainly due to a recent influx of new computing power.
According to CryptoQuant, the total network hash rate of Bitcoin also broke through 1.1 trillion hashes per second on Friday, setting a new historical high.
The continuous rise in mining difficulty, along with the ongoing demand for high-performance, energy-consuming computing power, has made competition increasingly difficult for individual miners and enterprises, raising concerns about the centralization of Bitcoin mining.
Small miners and even publicly listed companies are fiercely competing with the government, which has access to free energy resources, while energy infrastructure providers can vertically integrate Bitcoin mining into their business structures.
Several governments, including Bhutan, Pakistan, and El Salvador, are already utilizing surplus or excess energy for Bitcoin mining or are exploring related businesses.
In May, the Pakistani government announced that it would use 2,000 megawatts (MW) of surplus electricity for Bitcoin mining as part of the country's regulatory embrace of cryptocurrencies and digital assets.
Energy providers in Texas, USA, have also incorporated Bitcoin mining into their infrastructure system, collaborating with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to balance grid loads.
In actual operations, the grid faces various challenges. During peak electricity usage, the grid may be unable to meet user demand due to insufficient energy supply. During low demand, excess energy may affect grid safety. If not effectively guided, it could even pose safety risks.
Energy companies in Texas view Bitcoin mining as a controllable load resource, balancing the differences in electricity supply and demand by consuming excess power during low demand and shutting down mining machines during peak demand.
This model not only brings profits to electricity suppliers but also alleviates concerns about fluctuations in energy costs, giving them a significant advantage in competing with publicly listed mining companies that need to pay electricity bills.
Related: Surge in Ethereum on-chain activity suggests ETH price will rise to $5,000
Original: “As Centralization Risks Increase, Bitcoin (BTC) Mining Difficulty Hits All-Time High”
免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。
