Bitcoin Block Interval Reaches 11-Year High Amid Declining Hashrate

Bitcoin network hashrate is on a continuous decline ever since the Chinese crackdown on mining led to numerous mining farms shut their operation and relocate. China accounted for more than 60% of the total Bitcoin network hashrate input, and the closure of Chinese mining farms has led to hashrate falling to one-third from its all-time-high.

While China has imposed some form of crypto ban every bull cycle, the current one is believed to be the strictest. Earlier it seemed only Inner Mongolia would proceed with an all-out crypto mining ban and other top mining hot spots would manage to continue at a lower strength. However, the strict crackdown led to the majority of miners either shutting their operation or relocating.

The average hash rate over the last 24-hours is about 62E about one-third of the highest 180E observed just a couple of months ago. However, the weekly or monthly average hashrate is considered more accurate than the daily one.

The decline in hashrate has also pushed the block generation time to the highest in 11 years. The average block generation time for bitcoin is 10 minutes but yesterday the average duration reached more than double at 23 minutes.

The top cryptocurrency’s low network hashrate could help the existing miners make more profit on their investment and be seen as bullish news.

BTC Headed For Biggest Difficulty Adjustment

The next mining difficulty adjustment comes in 5 days which will decrease the mining difficulty of the bitcoin network by 21%, the highest in the history of the top cryptocurrency. Mining difficulty is a dynamic metric that is adjusted to keep the network’s block production time to 10 minutes.

Industry insiders beleive the network hashrate would improve over time as more Chinese miners start activating their mining farms outside China.