Secret

Foundry

Bitcoin

April

<p>On May 2, 2023, Bitcoin&#8217;s hashrate hit a record-breaking 491.15 exahash per second (EH/s) at block height 787,895, coming close to half a zettahash, or 500 quintillion hashes per second. This unprecedented surge in computational power occurs just two days before the network&#8217;s next difficulty change.</p>



<h2 id="a-month-of-fluctuating-hashrates">A month of fluctuating hashrates</h2>



<p>Bitcoin&#8217;s hashrate experienced significant fluctuations throughout April, with the network recording an average of around 344.4 EH/s over the past 2,016 blocks. The hashrate dipped below 300 EH/s five times since April 2, 2023. Despite this, the network reached an all-time high of 491.15 EH/s on May 2.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img width="936" height="508" src="https://www.cryptopolitan.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/image-78.png" alt="image 78" class="wp-image-298464" srcset="https://www.cryptopolitan.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/image-78.png 936w, https://www.cryptopolitan.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/image-78-300x163.png 300w, https://www.cryptopolitan.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/image-78-768x417.png 768w, https://www.cryptopolitan.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/image-78-24x13.png 24w, https://www.cryptopolitan.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/image-78-36x20.png 36w, https://www.cryptopolitan.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/image-78-48x26.png 48w, https://www.cryptopolitan.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/image-78-150x81.png 150w" sizes="(max-width: 936px) 100vw, 936px" /></figure>



<p>However, slower block intervals marked April, with block times exceeding the ten-minute average consistently over the month. This slowdown resulted in a substantial backlog in the mempool, leaving over 240,000 transactions unconfirmed as of 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time on May 2.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" width="936" height="508" src="https://www.cryptopolitan.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/image-79.png" alt="image 79" class="wp-image-298465" srcset="https://www.cryptopolitan.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/image-79.png 936w, https://www.cryptopolitan.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/image-79-300x163.png 300w, https://www.cryptopolitan.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/image-79-768x417.png 768w, https://www.cryptopolitan.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/image-79-24x13.png 24w, https://www.cryptopolitan.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/image-79-36x20.png 36w, https://www.cryptopolitan.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/image-79-48x26.png 48w, https://www.cryptopolitan.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/image-79-150x81.png 150w" sizes="(max-width: 936px) 100vw, 936px" /></figure>



<h2 id="zettahash-era-on-the-horizon">Zettahash era on the horizon?</h2>



<p>The current hashrate spike follows a previous milestone on April 18, 2023, when the network reached 440.80 EH/s at block height 786,013. With the new all-time high approaching half a zettahash, the network is edging closer to the zettahash era—a sextillion hashes per second. River Financial research analyst Sam Wouters predicted that, at the current growth rate, Bitcoin could reach a zettahash by the end of 2025.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Bitcoin&#39;s hashrate touched 400 Exahash. At the current growth rate in 2023, we&#39;d reach a Zettahash by the end of 2025.<br><br>I&#39;m getting questions and concerns from people.<br><br>Where is the growth coming from? Is it nation-states? Secret mining operations? Did someone find some exploit? <a href="https://t.co/MMWfgPbqty" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">pic.twitter.com/MMWfgPbqty</a></p>&mdash; Sam Wouters (@SDWouters) <a href="https://twitter.com/SDWouters/status/1640320086878593026?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">March 27, 2023</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



<p>Despite the record-setting hashrate, block times still lag behind the ten-minute average, and a downward difficulty adjustment of 1.22% to 2% is anticipated.</p>



<p>Currently, Foundry USA is the leading mining pool, commanding 107.66 EH/s or 31.17% of Bitcoin&#8217;s total hashpower. Antpool follows with 80.75 EH/s, while F2pool, Binance Pool, and Viabtc boast 42.62 EH/s, 29.91 EH/s, and 23.18 EH/s, respectively.</p>

Bitcoin hashrate approaches half a zettahash, setting new record

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