October 14th 2026, 12:10 PM
Bitcoin Mining Faces Squeeze as Next Difficulty Rise Looms
Key Summary
Bitcoin miners face a projected 5.68% difficulty increase on Oct. 16, which could push some rigs earning less than their power bill. The increase, combined with unchanged Bitcoin price and subsidy, would reduce expected revenue per unit of computing power by 5.37%. This could have significant implications for the profitability of mining operations, particularly those with thin electricity cushions.
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Background
At unchanged Bitcoin price, subsidy and fees, the projected Oct. 16 retarget could push 20 J/TH equipment paying 8 cents/kWh below its electricity-only threshold.Analysis
Bitcoin miners face a projected 5.68% difficulty increase around Oct. 16, putting equipment with thin electricity cushions under pressure. If Bitcoin's price, block subsidy and average fees per block stay unchanged, expected revenue per unit of computing power would fall 5.37%.For illustrative equipment using 20 joules per terahash and paying 8 cents per kWh, electricity costs $38.40 daily per PH/s. Its $1.37 cushion at the Oct. 14 hashprice becomes an approximately $0.77 power shortfall under the projected retarget with those other inputs unchanged.
Conclusion
The next test is the completed adjustment at block 971,712 and hashprice afterward. A higher dollar value of rewards per block could soften the squeeze; a lower value would deepen it.Author Bio
Liam Wright is a reporter, podcast producer, and Editor-in-Chief at CryptoSlate.#Bitcoin#Mining#DifficultyIncrease#Crypto