Bitcoin halving to take place in 6 days, Bitcoin mining difficulty nears all-time high

As the Bitcoin halving is expected to occur next week, the mining difficulty of the Bitcoin network has approached an all-time high of 16.10 trillion (T). Bitcoin's mining difficulty is adjusted every two weeks, or every 2,016 blocks, but it depends on the competition in each adjustment cycle.

One of the most anticipated events of 2020 - the Bitcoin halving - is just seven days away. Next week, the world's largest cryptocurrency will halve and the mining reward will be cut in half. As expected, the reward for Bitcoin mining will drop from the current 12.5 Bitcoins to 6.25 Bitcoins after the halving. In addition, the daily number of Bitcoins mined will also be reduced from 1,800 to 900.

However, we have also seen some significant action on the Bitcoin network before the Bitcoin halving occurs. In the last adjustment, the difficulty of Bitcoin halving has been close to the highest level in history. In addition, the mining difficulty reached 16.10 trillion (T) after the adjustment on Tuesday. Mining difficulty roughly represents the difficulty when competing for block rewards.

New mining difficulty (+0.92%), before the last adjustment, halving next week

Data: @glassnode pic.twitter.com/do13MZoW9V

— Unfolded (@cryptounfolded) May 5, 2020

Tuesday's adjustment was the second time that the mining difficulty exceeded 16 teraflops. Earlier, the Bitcoin network reached an unprecedented mining difficulty of 16.10 teraflops (T) in March 2020. As the number of Bitcoins mined each day will be reduced by half, the computing power associated with Bitcoin will also decline.

The difficulty of Bitcoin mining is adjusted every two weeks or every 2016 blocks, depending on the competition in each adjustment cycle. In addition, the difficulty adjustment also depends on the number of participants. More participation requires higher computing power, and the difficulty increases accordingly.

According to data from mining pool Poolin, the average hashing power connected to the Bitcoin network has jumped significantly to 119 exahashes per second (EH/s) over the past seven days. In addition, the average computing power over the past two weeks was 115 EH/s.

Bitcoin Stalls Around $9,000 USD, Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Increasing

The Bitcoin halving event has reignited excitement among Bitcoin investors, and the price of Bitcoin has stagnated around the $9,000 level since last week, after rising more than 12%.

Earlier this year, the price of Bitcoin surged by nearly 40% in mid-February. However, along with global markets, the crypto market also fell sharply in March. This market correction wiped out all of Bitcoin's previous gains as it fell below $6,000. At this time, the Bitcoin network's hash power and difficulty also dropped significantly by 16%.

However, Bitcoin has since recovered quickly, with trading volume up 30% so far. At press time, Bitcoin is trading at $9,003 with a market cap of $165 billion.