Bitcoin Hash Rate Surges 40% In 2019, Nearing ATH: What Does It Mean?

[Magician]

Bitcoin’s price has seen a renewed interest over the past several weeks, according to its upswing. The asset’s hash rate also has been moving upward, currently sitting close to all-time high levels.

At press time, data from Blockchain.com shows the hash rate for Bitcoin sitting at roughly 48,003,251. However, on May 2, the number reached 58K. The last means an increase of almost 40% since 2019 had started, and roughly 6% away from the all-time high.

Hash rate is “the estimated number of terra hashes per second (trillions of hashes per second) the Bitcoin network is performing,” the website explains.

Long-term Hash Rate. Image Courtesy: Blockchain.com

According to the chart from Blockchain.com, Bitcoin’s hash rate peaked at 60,089,527 on September 24, 2018, before dipping to 31,998,005 on December 2 of the same year.

A Crypto Potato article from January 2019 explained hash rate necessarily correlates with the number of players mining bitcoin. A greater number of miners often leads to higher hash rate.

“What many in the space have come to observe is that the hash rate is directly correlated with the Bitcoin network difficulty, which increases as more miners enter the network,” the outlet noted. “A declining hash rate also means there is less profitability in mining, which leads to miners shutting down their mines or moving to mine other coins.”

Based on the current high hash rate levels, one might conclude interest is on the rise for bitcoin mining.

Correlation Between Bitcoin’s Price and Hash Rate

BTC price also appears to have possibly seen some correlation to the hash rate, and therefore, mining interest. After the significant drop from the $6,000 zone, it seems as though miners likely started leaving the network, as seen by the December 2018 low hash rate although this speculation is complicated by the sight of an increased hash rate trend for bitcoin throughout most of 2018, while the price dropped significantly throughout the year.

Image Courtesy: TradingView.com

In a Bitcoin Uncensored YouTube video several years ago, Counterparty Foundation’s Chris Derose explained hash rate could indicate the health of the network. Derose noted his thoughts on hash rate levels revealing network interest. “It shows where the enthusiasm is on the network on people investing in getting in, at least at some level,” he said, seemingly referring to people investing into mining.

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