Bitcoin block time rises as hashrate declines

On June 11, the interval between two blocks mined in the Bitcoin network was almost two hours. Journalist Colin Wu linked this to a drop in the first cryptocurrency’s hashrate.

Bitcoin’s entire network’s hashrate dropped by 20E. Due to the decrease, Bitcoin has not produced blocks for 1 hour and 45 minutes. pic.twitter.com/kWnUhn9lwB

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) June 11, 2021

Miners needed 105 minutes to mine block 687143.

According to Coin Metrics, the hashrate of the first cryptocurrency fell to 123.5 EH/s. BitInfoCharts estimates the metric even lower — about 120.6 EH/s.

According to BTC.com, the next difficulty adjustment will occur in two days. The service forecasts the metric will fall from 21.05 T to 19.63 T.

Since mid-May 2021, the average interval between blocks has generally exceeded 10 minutes. This may be linked to a drop in computing power at the previous difficulty. On June 11, the metric was 12 minutes.

At the time of writing, the most recently mined Bitcoin block is 687148. According to MiningPoolStats, Binance Pool spent 56 minutes to mine it.

Earlier Wu noted that on June 9 the hashrate of China’s largest mining pool, AntPool, fell by more than 25% in 24 hours. Other Chinese miners’ figures fell by 11–30%.

Because China’s restrictions policy, Bitcoin hashrate starts to decline, ranked first antpool fell 25%. pic.twitter.com/9Dfqxr8OZe

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) June 9, 2021

In May, Vice Premier Liu He said authorities intended to take measures regarding cryptocurrency mining and Bitcoin trading.

Later, Xinhua News Agency criticised digital gold and its mining methods.

In June, amid China’s stringent policy, residents of mining hubs in Xinjiang were required to cease activities.

Similar demands were made to mining companies in Qinghai province.

According to media reports, authorities in Sichuan province allowed miners to continue operating until the end of the rainy season.