Bitcoin’s hash rate and difficulty hit all-time highs

According to data from the Blockchain.com website, the Bitcoin network’s hash rate exceeded 68 quintillion hashes per second on July 2, 2019, reaching a new all-time high.

The increase in hash rate, the computing power used to secure the network, is consistent with the trend observed in early 2019. Since the beginning of the year, the hash rate has been increasing at a fairly steady rate every seven days.
This number represents the highest hashrate ever achieved by the Bitcoin network, with the previous highest hashrate being 66 million hashrates per second reached at the end of June 2019.
Improved hash rate and security
Typically, when Bitcoin’s hash rate grows over a long period of time, it also creates an increase in mining difficulty, which is the effort required to discover new blocks. The dangers of low hash rates in blockchain networks were highlighted by the 51% attacks on Bitcoin Cash in May and Ethereum Classic in January.
The increase in hash rate ensures the security of the Bitcoin network, effectively making it more difficult for hackers to compromise the integrity of the network.
The progression of difficulty has been a recurring series of climbs and plateaus so far in 2019. Bitcoin’s difficulty is currently at the same level as it was in late October 2018, when Bitcoin was trading around $6,000.
By December 2018, the hash rate had fallen by more than 45% after many miners ceased operations when Bitcoin’s value plummeted. The new hash rate will likely put an end to any talk of a mining compromise.
Will Bitcoin continue to rise?
While a cryptocurrency’s hash rate is often influenced by its value, its value is not necessarily influenced by its hash rate. In June 2019, Bitcoin surged above $10,000 and went on to hit new highs of nearly $14,000 that month.
Currently, the world’s largest digital currency is trading at $12,010, up 9.25% in the past 24 hours. While the recovery since 2018 is impressive, it does not necessarily indicate any significant price changes in the future.
The current rise in Bitcoin prices is believed to be responsible for a corresponding rise in Bitcoin’s hash rate. This could mean that Bitcoin transaction delays will decrease in the short term until the difficulty is reset.
The Bitcoin network has seen a massive increase in activity, leading to network congestion and extremely high transaction fees. Interestingly, despite the increase in Bitcoin prices, the Bitcoin Lightning Network has barely grown by most metrics. The number of active nodes has increased, but the number of payment channels has decreased.