Impact of US Winter Storm on Bitcoin Mining: An Analysis
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Significant Decline in Bitcoin Hashrate Due to US Winter Storm
The United States is currently grappling with a severe winter storm that has engulfed much of the country. This powerful weather phenomenon has ushered in frigid Arctic air, leading to a dramatic plunge in temperatures and causing widespread disruptions to transportation and energy infrastructure.
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According to a report from the BBC, thousands of flights have been canceled nationwide, and the power grid is under immense strain, leaving over 800,000 homes without electricity. In the midst of this turmoil, the Bitcoin blockchain has also taken a hit. The cryptocurrency’s Hashrate has experienced a noticeable decline as American miners scale back their power usage to alleviate pressure on the grid.
Foundry USA Faces a Hashrate Drop of 200 EH/s
One mining pool that has been notably affected by the storm is Foundry USA. Prior to the storm, Foundry USA boasted a computing power of approximately 340 exahashes per second (EH/s). However, by Monday, this figure had plummeted to just 139 EH/s, as reported by MiningPoolStats.
Previously, Foundry’s pool was the world’s largest by a significant margin, but following this Hashrate drop of nearly 60%, its capacity now aligns more closely with that of the second-largest pool, Antpool. Due to Foundry’s substantial size, its miners’ reduced power consumption has significantly impacted the overall network Hashrate, as evidenced by data from CoinWarz.
Observing the Bitcoin Hashrate Trend Over the Past Month
Before the weekend, the Bitcoin Hashrate hovered around 1,118 EH/s. However, by Sunday, it had fallen to a low of 668 EH/s. Although there was a rebound on Monday, with the Hashrate climbing to 776 EH/s, it remains over 30% lower than its previous level. Consequently, the blockchain is processing each block at an average interval of 12.28 minutes, which is 2.28 minutes slower than the standard 10-minute interval.
Although the storm has temporarily disrupted Bitcoin operations, the network is expected to recover swiftly. Even if Foundry USA’s downtime persists, the Bitcoin network will adjust to the absence of American miners during the next Difficulty adjustment. Satoshi Nakamoto designed Bitcoin to maintain a consistent block time of 10 minutes. If miners deviate from this target, the network recalibrates a metric known as “Difficulty” to bring miners back to the optimal speed.
Given the current Hashrate decline, a prolonged disruption could lead to a significant reduction in the network’s Difficulty. The upcoming adjustment is projected to decrease Difficulty by 18%.
Current BTC Price and Market Trends
As of now, Bitcoin is trading at approximately $87,700, reflecting a 5.7% decline over the past week.
It appears that the coin’s value has decreased significantly in recent days.
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