Bitcoin mining difficulty drops for first time since September 2024 as BTC price dips below $100k

Bitcoin’s mining difficulty decreased for the first time since September 2024, coinciding with the top asset price falling below the $100,000 mark.

According to CloverPool data, the difficulty level fell by 2.12% at block height 880,992 on Jan. 27—ending an eight-cycle streak of steady increases.

This decline adjusted the difficulty to 108.11 trillion from its previous record of 110.45 trillion.

Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Adjustments Since September 2024 (Source: CloverPool)

Mining difficulty is a key measure of the difficulty of validating new blocks on the Bitcoin network.

The system automatically adjusts this difficulty approximately every two weeks, or after 2,016 blocks, to maintain a consistent block discovery time of 10 minutes. This mechanism ensures the network remains stable regardless of changes in miner activity.

The difficulty increases when active miners grow, requiring more computational power to validate transactions. Conversely, if miner participation decreases, the difficulty level is reduced to balance the network load.

This latest decline points to a modest reduction in overall network activity or computational power among Bitcoin miners.

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