Bitcoin Difficulty Surges 4.16% Amid Ongoing Hashrate Plateau
The Bitcoin network's difficulty adjustment occurred on September 19, 2026, as the network mined blocks faster than the ten-minute target. The current difficulty rose to 132.76T, a 4.16% increase from the previous 127.45T. This adjustment is due to the network's protocol increasing the difficulty to maintain predictable block production.
The recent halving in April 2024 reduced block rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC, forcing miners to prioritize hardware efficiency to remain profitable. The monthly USD hashprice dropped from an average of $78.43 per PH/s/day before the halving to $50.11 per PH/s/day after. This compression hits inefficient machines hardest.
The current difficulty requires more hashes per block, putting pressure on marginal players who cannot afford the latest ASIC upgrades. Foundry USA leads the market with 30.1% of the hashrate, totaling 299 EH/s, followed by AntPool and F2Pool.