Bitcoin network stronger than ever through mining

The Bitcoin network is now more powerful than ever before. For the first time ever the blockchain's combined computer-power is almost doing 100 exa-hashes per second. In other words, that's 100.000.000.000.000.000.000 calculations per second. In two months the computer-power behind the Bitcoin blockchain has increased significantly.

Statistics from both Blockchain.com and Smartbit.com.au suggests that the hash rate of Bitcoin did not hit the 100 EH/sec milestone yet. On Monday it peaked at 99.89 EH/sec. It won't take much time before the Bitcoin network reaches this milestone.

In December last year the mining difficulty had its biggest drop in history. Approximately 30 percent of the miners left the network because mining was no longer profitable. Back then the Bitcoin network was only power by 32 EH/sec of hashing power. In June the hash rate was 57.11 EH/sec.

The total measure of computer power within any blockchain-based ledger is called the hashrate. Hashing happens when the network needs to verify a transaction. Mining computers solve an equation to verify them and earn bitcoin as a reward. The higher the hash rate, the more miners compete for the reward and the healthier the network is. In conclusion we can say that the bitcoin network is very healthy at the moment.

Bitcoin network halving is coming

Miners earn rewards for verifying transactions. These transactions are combined into a block. In each block miners find 12.5 BTC, which equals roughly 159 thousand dollars. Next year, approximately in April, the Bitcoin halving will occur. This means the rewards will get smaller. This creates scarcity and because of this the price of bitcoin generally goes up.

The Bitcoin network requires lots of energy to run its mining business. According to research from CoinShares approximately 74 percent of the required energy comes from green power sources. Many mining businesses run their mining operations on solar, wind or hydra power. For example, the rain season in China is considered to be a good opportunity for miners. Hydro power creates a tremendous surplus of electricity, which means that electricity is cheap during that time of the year.