Bitcoin experienced significant price fluctuations in January, reaching a new record of over $108,000 but later dropping to around $89,000, a level last seen in November 2024.
Despite the price movement, the hash rate of the Bitcoin network, which is a key indicator of mining competition and difficulty, showed a slight increase. Analysts from JPMorgan noted that the hash rate experienced a small uptick of 1% in January, reaching 785 exahashes per second (EH/s). Additionally, the mining difficulty saw a slight reduction, declining by 2% for the month.
However, the decrease in mining difficulty was considered unusual as it rarely happens. Nevertheless, analysts pointed out that the current difficulty level is still 25% higher than it was before the halving event in April 2024.
In terms of mining profitability, there was a slight improvement. Miners observed a small increase in earnings, with an average daily block reward of $57,200 per EH/s, representing a gain of less than 1% compared to the previous month.
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