Issue #573: Recent hashrate surge in perspective
Bitcoins mining difficulty adjustment is growing.
The recent surge in hash rate that has joined the Bitcoin Network since the beginning of the Summer is something we've touched on a few times around this rag. The amount of computing power working to mine Bitcoin roughly doubled between the beginning of May and today. Naturally, as is dictated by the protocol, the difficulty target has adjusted every 2016 blocks as hash rate has entered the network so that blocks are produced every ten minutes on average.
Bitcoin mining difficulty has been growing 42% PER QUARTER over the last 3 years!
— Kevin Rooke (@kerooke) September 19, 2019
Difficulty is projected to grow 60% this quarter, and it was already at an all-time high when Q2 ended 😳 pic.twitter.com/eFuyg1ZiXa
As our friend Kevin makes us aware of, difficulty has been growing by 42% quarter on quarter for the last three years and is projected to grow by 60% in Q32019. What the hell does this mean, you ask? It means that it is getting considerably harder to mine bitcoin over time. The mad dash for digital gold is driving humans to dump a great amount of capital into the hardware and infrastructure needed to tap into the digital stream of potential transactions that will be accepted by the Bitcoin Network.
Despite what some might say about Bitcoin's "shortcomings" and immaturity for the world stage, the Wiley entrepreneurs in the mining industry seem not to care one bit. The opportunity presented by the rush for sats is too large to care about the musings of academics and pundits alike. Uncle Marty expects this trend to continue.
Onward!
Final thought...
Parking in NYC is the bane of my existence.
