With just over a week to go until the 3rd Bitcoin halving occurs, Bitcoin hashrate is not operating at all-time high levels after dropping below 100 m TH / s back in March.
Hashrate is a direct indicator of how the miners react before the incoming event, and the recent rise in the total hashrate may be a hint of certain trends.
According to blockchain.com, the total BTC hashrate has slowly climbed up in the charts since April, and by 3 May the registered hashrate was 113 million TH / s. The all-time high level was witnessed on 7 March, when the total hashrate was over 120 million TH / s.
While many speculate that following the halving, Bitcoin’s price will undergo a hike, historically it takes a bit of time before the rally begins. However, it is imperative to understand miners’ sentiment at the moment, which would not be the same as earlier halvings.
What does higher hashrate mean at the moment?
Higher Bitcoin hashrate directly translates into the fact that more computing power is currently enforced in the network. Higher hash power, among other things, makes it difficult for miners to mine BTCs as they become more competitive.
Now, historically, the hashrate has gone up during previous pre-halving periods as well, as miners hoard in the network to accumulate as much BTC before the blocks rewards are slashed. That could be one of the major reasons, indicating that miners are trying to take advantage of these last few days of 12.5 BTC block rewards.
But are miners profitable at present?
According to a number of reports and analyzes, it has been widely suggested that bitcoin miners remain profitable in space and will be able to continue their post halving operation if the valuation of bitcoin stayed above $7000-$7500.
Now, the good news is that bitcoin’s latest price movement in the chart has most likely strengthened miner’s sentiment in the charts. Bitcoin spiked from below $7500, up to $9300 in a two-day span on April 29-30, and the asset has been able to consolidate above $8500 in the last few days.
Miners would not be disappointed with that, hence in order to more BTC during this price point, it is likely miners are putting in more hash power at the moment in order to be as profitable as possible for the reduced rewards.
But will the situation be the same post-halving?
Post-halving, the situation might get a little bit tricky for small-term miners. Over the past two halvings, Bitcoin has generally registered a dip alongside its hashrate, during the first few weeks as the network undergoes in difficulty adjustment.
Now with the drop in difficulty, it also becomes easier to mine Bitcoin but alongside difficulty, BTC’s price is expected to plummet to a certain degree as well.
Hence, post-halving, the community may as well see Bitcoin dropped down below $7000-$7500 again, as small-miners shut down their operation for a temporary period.
However, the current activity levels were positive signs for the network, which suggests that in spite of the incoming halving, miners are mostly Bullish for the largest digital asset.