Bitcoin mining difficulty hits seven-month high after 5.92% jump

what happened

Bitcoin's mining difficulty climbed 5.92% to 140.58 T in a recalculation that fell over the weekend. It is the second straight increase and the highest level since March 20, according to CoinWarz data cited by RBC. The reading is back to levels seen in March 2026, pointing to a revival in miner activity, which grew nearly 30% over the past month despite some capacity being shifted toward AI.

Total hashrate rose from about 820 EH/s in mid-September to roughly 1,060 EH/s as of October 19. Miners are also leaving the Binance pool, whose closure was announced on October 13, and nearly half of its participants have already moved to other pools. Binance Pool's share fell from 1.8% a week earlier to about 0.95%, while Foundry briefly topped 25.57% before settling near 24.6%, according to mempool.space.

why it matters

For miners, higher difficulty means the same hardware produces fewer BTC, so profitability now depends more on the bitcoin price and power costs. Part of the fleet moving to AI workloads signals competition for energy and sites, while the exodus from Binance shows miners switching pools quickly. If the BTC price weakens, operations with higher electricity costs would feel margin pressure first.

market impact

Bitcoin miners: higher difficulty adds competition and squeezes margins if the BTC price falls

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