The average hash rate of the Bitcoin network has fallen by 30%, from 230 Eh/s to 155 Eh/s. Such a significant drop in the indicator is connected with the ongoing bad weather in the United States, due to which many miners turned off the equipment.
The United States remains the leader in terms of the contribution to the hashrate of the network of the first cryptocurrency – on average, American miners generate 37% of the hashrate of the Bitcoin network. However, a snow storm led to massive power outages, so many mining farms were shut down. The bad weather resulted in the death of at least 22 people.
The power outage at the Texas data center in Rockdale was announced by the large mining company Riot Blockchain. Bankruptcy firm Core Scientific also announced a reduction in mining due to the load on the electrical grid.
“Be prepared for equipment shutdowns and reconnections due to bad weather. By turning off your miner, someone will be able to heat their house and cook food,” said Neil Galloway, director of mining activities at Compass Mining.
At the beginning of the month , a significant decrease in mining difficulty and hashrate was reported – companies are turning off old equipment due to lack of profit .