Opinion: Bitcoin hashrate hits new high, “mining death spiral” FUD is once again exposed

Bitcoin’s hash rate recently hit a new all-time high of over 125 EH/s, meaning the world’s largest cryptocurrency network is now the strongest it has ever been.

As a result of this spike, mining difficulty is expected to increase by 9.52% on July 13. This new high runs counter to the “mining death spiral” narrative that was prevalent in the period leading up to the May supply cut, when doomsayers claimed miners would shut down their equipment in droves.

As Kraken's director of business development Dan Held points out, the FUD about the demise of the Bitcoin network is now being debunked again. Bitcoin miners are not leaving the network, but are actively investing in more efficient ASIC miners. Back in April, Bitmain began selling its next-generation miners (S19 and S19 Pro) with a hashrate of up to 115 TH/s. Another notable trend is the US's attempt to take China's mining crown, with Peter Thiel-backed Layer1 planning to reach 30% of the total hashrate by 2021.