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According to recent blockchain data, bitcoin's hashrate has been on the rise, as it reached a new all-time high on Friday, January 3, 2025. This new peak comes as the leading cryptocurrency continues to recover after a disappointing end to 2024. .
Positive correlation between bitcoin price and hashrate
Hashrate is a metric that measures the total amount of computing power secured by a proof-of-work blockchain network (bitcoin, in this case). It is used to determine the mining difficulty of a blockchain and measure network participation.
When the hashrate metric increases, it indicates that bitcoin miners are dedicating more computational resources to the network and, as a result, the blockchain becomes more secure. Meanwhile, a lower hash rate suggests reduced participation in the network and less security.
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On Friday, bitcoin's hashrate briefly hit a new record of over 1,000 exahashes per second (EH/s). According to the latest on-chain data, the hashrate has fallen back to around 783.02 EH/s, at the time of writing.
Data from CoinWarz shows that this new all-time high for bitcoin hashrate is almost double its value about a year ago. In January 2024, the btc network hashrate stood at around 510 EH/s.
From a historical point of view, there is a positive correlation between the network hashrate and the price of bitcoin. For example, substantial increases in hash rate during the 2017 and 2021 bull cycles overlapped with significant price rallies.
Additionally, a higher hash rate indicates strong network fundamentals, which can improve sentiment around the leading cryptocurrency. While this may not lead to immediate surges, it could contribute to price growth over time.
At the time of writing, the price of bitcoin stands at around $98,264, reflecting an increase of almost 2% in the last 24 hours. This bullish single-day action adds to the somewhat positive weekly performance, with the flagship cryptocurrency up almost 5% over the past seven days.
US Mining Pools Now Account for 40% of Global Hashrate: Report
A new report has <a target="_blank" href="https://theminermag.com/news/2025-01-02/us-bitcoin-hashrate-dominance/” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow”>revealed that the United States accounted for more than 40% of the global bitcoin hashrate by the end of 2024. Specifically, two US-based mining pools, Foundry USA and MARA Pool, were responsible for more than 38.5% of all blocks mined.
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A report from TheMinerMag showed that Foundry USA improved its hash rate from 157 EH/s in early 2024 to around 280 EH/s in December to become the largest mining pool by hash rate. Meanwhile, MARA Pool accounts for approximately 4.35% of global hashing power.
While this represents significant growth for the United States in the btc mining industry, China-based mining pools still control the majority of the total hashrate. Despite the ban on cryptocurrencies in the country, Chinese mining pools <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/ki_young_ju/status/1838140712736711110″ target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow”>controlled 55% of the global hashrateto September 2024.
Featured image from iStock, chart from TradingView
