Bitcoin) (BTCThe first difficulty adjustment for 2026, which measures the computing difficulty in adding a new blockchain block, dropped slightly on Thursday to 146.4 billion.
“The next Bitcoin difficulty adjustment is estimated to take place on Jan 22, 2026, 04:08:12 AM UTC, increasing the Bitcoin mining difficulty from 146.47 T to 148.20 T,” According to CoinWarz.
The average block time is 9.88 minutes, which is slightly less than the 10-minute target. This means that the next adjustment to the difficulty will be slightly higher in order to better align with the target block-time.
With the last adjustment in the year, mining difficulties reached new highs by 2025. slightly increasing the difficulty level. The difficulty level remained far below November’s record of 155,9 trillion.
In 2025, the industry faced macroeconomic, financial, and regulatory headwinds. The increasing difficulty of the mine blocks will increase competition.
Related: Bitcoin mining’s 2026 reckoning: AI pivots, margin pressure and a fight to survive
It was 2025. “harshest margin environment” Bitcoin mining records
As a result of April’s 2024 halves, bitcoin miners faced one of their most challenging profitability environments. slashed the block subsidy by 50% The macroeconomic environment.
Crypto market decline, that began in November, put additional pressure on miners and mining firms.
The miner hash price is a key metric to measure miner profitability. It tracks the expected income per unit computing power spent on mining blocks. fell below breakeven levels In November 2025,
Miners will decide at $40 per petahash second per day whether they want to stop mining or not. In November, this metric dropped below $35 — a multi-year low.
Tariffs implemented by US President Donald Trump strained Bitcoin minersThere are fears that the supply chain may be short.
Crypto market decline, due to a sharp drop in demand. flash crash in OctoberIn November when BTC was at a record low, just above $80,000, slashed BTC’s prices by more than 30%.
Bitcoin’s prices are up since then, but they remain far from the October high of $125,000.
Magazine: Bitcoin mining industry ‘going to be dead in 2 years’: Bit Digital CEO
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Source: cointelegraph.com
