Recent data shows that Bitcoin mining difficulty has dropped significantly in the last week. This development follows a significant price decline over the past week, when Bitcoin fell by a total of 11%.
Bitcoin mining difficulty records historic decline since China's crackdown
Mining difficulty, as the name suggests, measures how difficult it is for miners to solve the mathematical problems required to add new blocks to the Bitcoin blockchain. Therefore, an increase in difficulty suggests that mining is difficult for the average network node, and vice versa.
Typically, the Bitcoin network adjusts this metric every 2,016 blocks (approximately every two weeks). According to developer Mononaut, Bitcoin recorded an 11.6% decline in mining difficulty over the past 24 hours, making it the largest single adjustment since China's ban and the 10th largest negative adjustment in history.
In 2021, the Asian country issued a ban on all forms of Bitcoin mining activity within its borders, effectively eliminating more than half of the world's hashrate. Along with this, the difficulty of mining has also decreased, lowering the barrier to participation for new miners.
According to further data shared by mononaut, Bitcoin mining difficulty currently stands at 125.86T after the recent drop that started with block 935,429.
The plummeting mining difficulty reflects the harsh price environment
While the decline in Bitcoin mining indicates that mining activity has become easier, it also suggests a sharp increase in miner capitulation, or the closure of miners as they become unprofitable. This is usually due to rising energy costs, regulatory crackdowns like those in China, or market crashes as we've seen recently. Notably, Bitcoin price initially recorded a 28% drop in the first week of February, trading as low as $60,000 before recovering to $70,000. Therefore, many miners may have suffered large losses due to this correction.
However, it is worth noting that Bitcoin difficulty adjustment is a self-sustaining mechanism designed to ensure that new blocks are continuously mined, regardless of the number of participating miners. Moreover, given the recent negative correction, a new influx of miners is expected and there is no need to be alarmed.
Meanwhile, MARA Holdings disclosure data for Q3 2025 shows that the average Bitcoin mining cost is $67,704. According to Julio Moreno, head of CryptoQuant, most Bitcoin mining companies are likely incurring significant losses at current market prices, and an increase in sales activity is expected, which has contributed to the recent miner flight. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $69,357 after falling 1.71% over the past day.
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