Miners Migration: Bitcoin Hashrate Soars 42% in Two Days

It appears that many Chinese miners have completed their annual migration out of Sichuan, with Bitcoin hashrate surging by more than 40% in two days.

The Bitcoin network’s hashrate has surged by roughly 30% in the past 24 hours, which, if sustained, could indicate the network is due for a significant difficulty adjustment soon.

According to Coinwarz, Bitcoin’s hash rate is currently at 157.5 exahashes per second (EH/s), after briefly topping 160 EH/s. So far, BTC’s hash rate has surged 42% in two days.

In late October, the bitcoin hashrate fell sharply, which many analysts attributed to the end of the rainy season in China’s mining hub of Sichuan.

The province’s abundant and cheap hydropower attracts an estimated 80% of China’s miners during the rainy season. CoinShares estimates that Sichuan accounts for 54% of global mining activity.

Quantum Economic analyst Jason Deane speculated that the sudden increase in Bitcoin hashrate could be a sign that many Chinese miners have completed their migration from Sichuan and resumed operations in other mining centers such as Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia.

Wow! #Bitcoin hashrate has surged in the past 10 hours (from bottom to peak +29.7%). A large number of mining machines have just been turned on somewhere. Could it be Bitcoin miners who moved out of Sichuan? pic.twitter.com/UKahgQ37Tm

— Jason Deane (@JasonADeane) November 9, 2020

The sudden surge in mining activity suggests that the network is likely due for another major difficulty adjustment.

The sharp increase in difficulty will disappoint non-Chinese miners, who had been enjoying a profit boost after a mass migration of miners from Sichuan in October led to a 16% drop in Bitcoin mining difficulty, the second-largest difficulty drop in Bitcoin’s history.

Earlier this week, Russia’s En+ Group, the world’s largest private hydroelectric power company, announced that it would launch a cryptocurrency mining venture in partnership with local company BitRiver. (Cointelegraph)