Bitcoin miners now require over 1 EH/s of daily computing power to mine 1 BTC, marking a new all-time high. The Hashrate measures the computing power attached to the Bitcoin network, with a 7-day average near its all-time high at 638 EH/s. Despite the increase in Hashrate, the block time on the network remains constant due to a biweekly Difficulty adjustment, ensuring stable growth and predictable inflation. The recent spike in the Hashcoin, indicating the computing power needed to mine 1 BTC, is attributed to the fourth Halving event, which halved block rewards, resulting in the need for 1.13 EH/s to mine a single token daily. Meanwhile, Bitcoin is trading at around $62,900, down 5% over the past week.

As explained by CryptoQuant head of research Julio Moreno in a post on X, the BTC Hashcoin has set a new record. The “Hashcoin” here refers to an indicator that keeps track of the daily Hashrate miners require to produce 1 BTC. The Hashrate measures the computing power that the miners have attached to the Bitcoin network. This metric is measured in terms of hashes per second, or, in the much bigger and more practical unit these days, exahashes per second (EH/s).

The total Hashrate on the blockchain has been near its all-time high (ATH) recently, as its 7-day average value is sitting at 638 EH/s. A core feature of the Bitcoin blockchain is that the block time on the network (that is, the rate at which miners solve blocks) remains relatively constant at a standard 10 minutes per block. By ensuring that these blocks are given out at a constant rate, the asset’s growth remains stable, and its inflation is predictable.

Since the rewards stay capped in this manner, an increase in the Hashrate means that the distribution of rewards between the individual power units becomes smaller. Thus, whenever the total network Hashrate goes up, an individual miner has to increase their power by the same percentage to remain competitive with the chain. In other words, the earlier mentioned “Hashcoin” goes up when the Hashrate rises. As the Hashrate has been near ATH recently, the Hashcoin has also been relatively high.

The answer lies in the fourth Halving, which occurred on April 19th. Whereas the Difficulty ensures the inflation rate of the asset remains constant, the Halving is a measure to cut this rate actively. Block rewards are slashed in exactly half during these events, which take place roughly every four years, and that has naturally been the case with the latest one as well. With the block rewards now halved, miners can only produce half as much as before, which is why the Hashcoin has spiked. Miners now need 1.13 EH/s to mine a single token every day.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at around $62,900, down 5% over the past week.