On Friday, April 4, the hashrate of the first cryptocurrency’s network crossed the 1 ZH/s mark for the first time in history. Intraday peak values reached approximately 1025 EH/s, according to data from Glassnode.
The seven-day moving average smoothed indicator reached a peak of 897.6 EH/s on April 6.
On April 5, mining difficulty hit a new ATH of 121.51 T, marking an increase of 6.81%.
According to the current forecast, the next recalculation in about 11 days is expected to see a 0.5% decrease in difficulty.
On April 7, the first cryptocurrency briefly plummeted below $75,000. After recovering, digital gold is trading around $80,000 (CoinGecko).
Mining Profitability Under Significant Pressure
Analysts have already noted a worrying trend — as the network’s hashrate climbs to new record levels, the price of Bitcoin moves in the opposite direction. It is nearly 30% below the all-time high reached in January.
According to Hashrate Index, the hashprice has fallen to a year-to-date low of ~$40 per day per PH/s. This is more than half the levels recorded a year ago before the halving on April 20.
“For miners to remain profitable and cover operating expenses and capital costs, a high Bitcoin price, full blocks, and high transaction fees are important,” emphasized CoinDesk senior analyst James Van Straten.
The first cryptocurrency is struggling with all three components of this formula. By the end of the first quarter, the share of network fees in miners’ total revenue was only 1.33%.
In response, industry participants are diversifying into the more profitable field of high-performance computing (HPC), targeting the AI sector.
Bitfarms has reached a preliminary agreement with Macquarie Group for a $300 million loan. The funds will be used to finance the development of the Panther Creek HPC project. The company acquired the existing mining facility through a merger with Stronghold.
? JUST IN: Bitfarms announced we have entered into an initial agreement for a private debt facility with Macquarie Group for up to $300 million to fund initial #HPC project development at Panther Creek, PA.
• Initial draw at close of $50 million, with up to $300 million…
— Bitfarms (@Bitfarms_io) April 2, 2025
Galaxy Digital signed a 15-year agreement with CoreWeave. Under this agreement, the company will provide the AI firm with 200 MW of infrastructure at the Helios data center in Texas, acquired from Argo.
Galaxy’s revenue from the contract is expected to reach $4.5 billion.
Industry experts believe that U.S. miners will be directly affected by the “liberation” tariffs on imports announced by President Donald Trump.