Bitcoin Hashrate Surpasses All-Time High as Even 2014 ASICs Stay Profitable

Bitcoin's hashrate is moving with the crypto's price as old and new mining machines come online.

AccessTimeIconApr 6, 2021 at 7:09 p.m. UTC
Updated Aug 19, 2021 at 8:36 a.m. UTC

Presented By Icon

Election 2024 coverage presented by

Stand with crypto

Bitcoin’s hashrate – a way to measure the total power consumption and mining output of the network – has topped a new all-time high.

The current mean hashrate of the Bitcoin network is 179.4 exahashes per second, according to data from Coin Metrics.

  • Bitcoin Mining in the U.S. Will Become 'a Lot More Decentralized': Core Scientific CEO
    13:18
    Bitcoin Mining in the U.S. Will Become 'a Lot More Decentralized': Core Scientific CEO
  • Binance to Discontinue Its Nigerian Naira Services After Government Scrutiny
    05:10
    Binance to Discontinue Its Nigerian Naira Services After Government Scrutiny
  • The first video of the year 2024
    04:07
    The first video of the year 2024
  • The last regression video of the year 3.67.0
    40:07
    The last regression video of the year 3.67.0
  • Bitcoin's hashrate from January 2017 until now.
    Bitcoin's hashrate from January 2017 until now.

    Ethan Vera, the CTO of North American mining firm Luxor, told CoinDesk the all-time high comes during a scramble for the semiconductor chips that power ASICs, along with a scramble for the machines themselves.

    “The run up in bitcoin price paired with a shortage on ASIC chips has caused mining economics to turn favorably to miners, with many miners running at 85%+ mining margins,” he said.

    “Miners are trying to get their hands on every machine possible, and even ASICs  launched in 2014 are profitable. All of Luxor’s clients have all of their rigs plugged in and hashing including their oldest machines. There is little to no idle hashrate out there.”

    Building on Vera’s comments, the all-time high is partly driven by previously backordered ASIC shipments finally reaching their North American buyers. Bitcoin’s mining industry has enjoyed surging growth over the past year, as big players continue to finance bulk orders of ASIC miners to the tune of the tens of thousands of units.

    This all-time high is partly driven by previously backordered ASIC shipments finally reaching their North American buyers. Bitcoin’s mining industry has enjoyed surging growth over the past year, as big players continue to finance bulk orders of ASIC miners to the tune of the tens of thousands of units.

    The hashrate high also comes in spite of the Bitcoin network’s recent 6% upwards difficulty adjustment (mining “difficulty” is a self-referencing score wherein 1 indicates the easiest mining conditions; Bitcoin’s current difficulty is 23.1 trillion). 

    The price of bitcoin has fallen roughly 2% Tuesday to just above $58,000.

    Updated Tuesday, April 6, 2021, 21:05 UTC: Added a graph with information on Bitcoin's hashrate.

    Disclosure

    Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information have been updated.

    CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk has adopted a set of principles aimed at ensuring the integrity, editorial independence and freedom from bias of its publications. CoinDesk is part of the Bullish group, which owns and invests in digital asset businesses and digital assets. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive Bullish group equity-based compensation. Bullish was incubated by technology investor Block.one.


    Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.