Posted:
- Bitcoin network problems have passed 72 trillion.
- Miners have also seen increased earnings as the difficulty increases.
Recently Bitcoin [BTC] experienced increased activity on its network, leading to changes in mining issues. This increase in difficulty contributed to an increase in miners’ earnings, which reached an annual high.
Bitcoin is getting harder
A survey of the Bitcoin network for 2023 showed 27 changes in difficulty. These changes consisted of twenty increases and seven decreases. The most significant increase occurred on January 15: a significant increase of 10.26%.
In contrast, the smallest increase occurred on August 9, with a modest increase of 0.12% at block 802.368.
The most notable drop in difficulty occurred at the beginning of the year, specifically on January 2, with a drop of 3.59%. Conversely, the smallest decline occurred on February 12, with a 0.49% reduction at block 776,160.
At the time of writing, the network difficulty was around 72 trillion, marking the highest point reached during the entire year. To provide context, the difficulty was about 34 trillion at the beginning of 2023 blockchain.com.
This meant that there had been a substantial increase of almost 38 trillion in recent months.
How the Bitcoin Troubles Affected Miners
December stood out as an important month for the Bitcoin network, evidenced by the upward trend in network issues. In addition to the increase in network issues during the month, miners’ revenues also saw a notable increase.
Closer examination of the sales graph revealed a sharp increase to over 64,000 on December 17. This sharp increase marked the highest point reached all year.
Although sales have declined since then, sales have consistently remained at levels higher than in previous months. At the time of writing there were more than 44,000.
Is your portfolio green? Check out the BTC profit calculator
Tracking the BTC transactions
One factor contributing to the rise in network problems and miner revenues is transaction volume. AMBCrypto’s study of BTC’s volume chart on Santiment showed consistently substantial volume in recent weeks.
The chart showed that daily transaction volume exceeded $40 billion in December. At the time of writing, the volume was approximately $27 billion. This continued high volume highlighted the active nature of Bitcoin transactions during this period.