Bitcoin’s hashrate reached an all-time high of 491.15 exahash per second (EH/s) on May 02, 2023, as the network prepares for its next difficulty change. This staggering amount of computational power is almost totaling half a zettahash or five hundred quintillion hashes per second. The hashrate spike is noteworthy, considering the network had been recording an average of roughly 344.4 EH/s over the past 2,016 blocks, with the hashrate dipping below the 300 EH/s range on five separate occasions since April 2, 2023.
With the latest surge in hashrate, block times have been slower, with block intervals consistently exceeding the ten-minute average over the 30-day period of April. The consequences of slower block times have been significant, leading to a notable backlog in the mempool. As of 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time on May 2, data showed that a staggering 240,000+ transactions remained unconfirmed.
Despite the network’s unprecedented high in hashrate, block times continue to lag behind the ten-minute average, and a downward difficulty adjustment ranging from 1.22% to 2% should be expected. It is pertinent to note that the upward trend of Bitcoin’s hashrate could soon propel the network into the zettahash era, as postulated by a recent report by River Financial’s research analyst, Sam Wouters. Wouters estimates that “at the current growth rate in 2023, we’d reach a Zettahash by the end of 2025.”
Foundry USA topped the mining pool with the highest hashpower, boasting 107.66 EH/s or 31.17% of Bitcoin’s total hashpower. Other top mining pools include Antpool with 80.75 EH/s, F2pool’s 42.62 EH/s, Binance Pool’s 29.91 EH/s, and Viabtc’s 23.18 EH/s.
Bitcoin.com News’ lead journalist, Jamie Redman, has been actively involved in the cryptocurrency community since 2011. He is passionate about Bitcoin, decentralized applications, and open-source code. Redman has written over 7,000 articles for Bitcoin.com News since September 2015 about the disruptive protocols that are emerging today.
In conclusion, Bitcoin’s soaring hashrate is remarkable, albeit with consequences such as slower block times and a significant backlog in the mempool. It remains a subject of debate whether Bitcoin will soon enter the zettahash era, but with the upward trend of the network’s hashrate, the analysts’ predictions could soon come to fruition.
