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25 sats \ 3 replies \ @phaedrus 16 Jan 2023 \ on: Bitcoin Mining Difficulty increases 10.26% to 37.59t - New All-Time High 📈 bitcoin
Any hypothesis why the hash rate keeps climbing?
Something that is always overlooked is that many orders in bulk have been arriving gradually and have been connected in the last two years. That, and the fact that some entities are joining 'secretly' adding more hashing power. And never forget that at the end, Bitcoin will be world's standard for transactions and store of value combined. Hashing is the only way to be in the loop for the future of money.
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More miners online, Bitcoin CEO demands perfection.
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Over-leveraged miners are actively getting liquidated forcing their creditors to take possession and sometimes sell thousands of used rigs on the secondary market.
A year ago a 95 TH/s rig cost more than $10K. Today it is barely above $1k.
That sucks for the miners who are still paying off a $10K rig. But that's very good for those adding hashrate today.
And the manufacturers still are selling new hardware -- even if they aren't making much (or any) money at it today.
And then you have the obsolete S9s. Mining on an S9 (from 2018) is unprofitable by almost anyone running one today. But they are still selling at $100+. Nobody needs a $100 boat anchor ... so what are they doing with them? People are mining on them for the heat. They've become an electric space heater that provides a little bitcoin as an extra. Others are mining using them to obtain (expensive) bitcoin where they did not have to provide their KYC/Identity.
Though Texas was the epicenter for hashrate growth after China evicted their bitcoin mining industry, there now are many other areas seeing a rapidly expanding capacity. Russia is one country whose hashrate has been on the rise, for example. There are parts of the middle east now discovering that bitcoin is a good match for their natural gas, which they produce in abundance.
And then there are the edge cases.
There are new bitcoin mining companies that have focused on generating electiricity for mining using biogas from municipal wastewater biodegesters. Here's one:
Mining Bitcoin With Human Waste: The Orange Future Of Wastewater Treatment
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/using-poop-and-biogas-to-mine-bitcoin
There are new bitcoin companies mining using excess electricity from mini-hydroelectric plants in Africa (e.g., Gridless, in Kenya).
These may not be huge consumers like Riot's "Gigawatt" facility in Texas, but they are increasing in both variety (of energy sources), and quantity (not just locations operating, but in rigs per location).
In other words, the players may change but the game continues. The hashrate will continue to rise.
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