In spite of macroeconomic uncertainty, the Bitcoin hashrate hit a new all-time high on February 12.
Bitcoin hashrate keeps climbing
Nothing can stop it, it’s all the way up.
No, this is not an adaptation of a popular rap song but the state of affairs for Bitcoin’s hashrate. After hitting several all-time highs in January 2022, the network set another record on February 12 when the hashrate spiked by 31%. The estimated number of terahashes per second – the unit how much computing power is going into mining new bitcoin – hit 28.11 million per second. Although these are only raw values and the network’s seven-day average is not (yet) at an all-time high, it is nonetheless an impressive feat in the face of potential rate hikes by the Fed and political turmoil in Ukraine.
Source: blockchain.com
But why does mining power keep increasing?
Although China banned Bitcoin mining only little over half a year ago, that already seems like a distant memory. The network has never been in a better state, and the Bitcoin Mining Council agreed on this in its fourth-quarter survey findings it published several days ago.
58.5% of the global Bitcoin mining industry is now running on renewable power, marking a 1% increase in the final quarter of 2021. Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy and a key member of the council was highly pleased with the survey’s findings:
“This quarter we saw the trend continue with dramatic improvements to Bitcoin mining energy efficiency & sustainability due to advances in semiconductor technology, the rapid expansion of North American mining, the China Exodus, and worldwide rotation toward sustainable energy and modern mining techniques.”
The network also became more efficient, growing its estimated technological efficiency by 9% to 19.3 petahash per megawatt. These are indicators that the Bitcoin network has never been in a better shape and that China may have unintentionally done it a favour by banning miners from the country. The ban led to an exodus of miners mainly to the United States and Kazakhstan, although it is estimated that 20% of the global hashrate may still be coming from unregistered Chinese miners that are illegally continuing their business.
Bitcoin mining and sustainability
With the network becoming bigger and stronger every day, so are the discussions around its sustainability and the environmental impacts of Bitcoin mining.
Even though Bitcoin advocates underscore the positive effects of Bitcoin mining on local power supplies, the US federal government may disagree with them. The US Congress is looking into the energy impacts of proof-of-work blockchains and heard several witnesses in its hearing on the topic. Although no tangible results have been released yet, the Biden administration has tasked several ministries with reports to take executive action on cryptocurrencies as soon as March.
Still, Bitcoin mining isn’t going anywhere, and particularly in the United States, it is up to the states to welcome miners or not. With the hashrate steadily climbing and the price of Bitcoin holding its ground despite blustery macroeconomic conditions, many more countries may soon want a piece of the mining cake.
