By The hash power of the Bitcoin BTC network has jumped by roughly 30 over the past 24 hours, which if sustained, suggesting a major difficulty adjustment may soon be incoming. According to Coinwarz, Bitcoins hash rate currently sits at 157.5 exahashes per second EXs after briefly pushing above 160 EHs. As of this writing, BTC hash power has increased by 42 in two days.
The spike follows a sharp decline in hash power in late October, which many analysts attributed to the end of the rainy season in the Chinese mining hub of Sichuan. The provinces abundant and cheap hydroelectric power is estimated to attract around 80 of Chinese miners during the wet season. In December, CoinShares estimated that Sichuan accounted for 54 of global mining activity.
Quantum Economics analyst Jason Deane speculated that the sudden increase in Bitcoin hash power could be a sign that many Chinese miners have completed their migration from Sichuan and restored operations in other local mining hubs such as Xinjian and Inner Mongolia. The sudden spike in mining activity suggests the network is likely to produce another significant difficulty adjustment.
A major upward adjustment would come at the chagrin of nonChinese miners who have been enjoying boosted profits after Octobers apparent migration from Sichuan resulted in a 16 negative difficulty adjustment the secondlargest downwards adjustment in Bitcoins history.
Source FXPro
