Bitcoin mining hash rate, known as the network processing power, reached an all-time high on Christmas Day, creating additional pressure on miners who are already experiencing a decline in profits. According to data from Blockchain com, on December 25th, Bitcoin’s hash rate hit the highest level ever at 544 exahash (EH/s) per second.
Hash Rate Record Broken
The data, which reported that the average hash rate peaked over the weekend, was also confirmed by blockchain data analysis platform Bitinfocharts. The network hash rate has more than doubled this year, increasing by 130% since January.
While Bitcoin hash rate data was rising, the asset’s price almost mirrored the chart, increasing by more than 150% since January 1, 2023, and the network hash rate first surpassed the 500 EH/s milestone at the end of November. Will Clemente, co-founder of Reflexivity Research, commented on the matter after examining the hash rate with logarithmic data:
“The mining ban in China during the summer of 2021 is almost non-existent. Imagine trying to fade the world’s most secure decentralized open-source money network, I can’t imagine.”
Inscriptions Hype and Hash Rate
A high hash rate might be good for theoretical price models such as hash-adjusted price, but it’s not good news for miners who have to work harder to secure the next block. The hash price, a measure of profitability, fell over the past week as the BRC-20 inscriptions hype lost momentum. According to HashrateIndex, the hash price is currently at $0.09 per terahash per second daily.
Profitability has dropped by 34% since December 17th, 2023, when it was at its highest level of the year at $0.136/TH/s daily. Hash price typically rises during high demand and can lead to high transaction fees, as seen during the recent inscriptions hype. Glassnode analyst Checkmatey commented on the issue:
“Since February, we are approaching almost a full year without completely clearing Bitcoin mempools, maintaining high fee pressure.”
