Over the last 24-hours, Bitcoin’s network hash rate rose by 31.69% to reach 248.11 EH/s, further ascertaining the resilience of the network against possible exploitation during the mining process.
Hash rate is the number of nodes on a network. Higher hash rates mean more decentralization and more computing power available to the network. With more decentralization, a network is more resilient to possible cybersecurity attacks.
Before the recent jump, the hash rate was around 188.40%. With this massive spike, the Bitcoin network further shows its resilience. Following China’s ban on cryptocurrency and mining in June 2021, there were concerns that Bitcoin’s network security would drop – as China-based miners provided 34.2% of the total hash rate on the network at that time.
However, the network quickly recovered as miners moved to other countries. Over the past year, the hash rate has increased by 54.33%. US-based miners currently account for most of the hash rate on the network at 35.4%, with the state of Georgia emerging as a crypto mining hub.
January’s ATH hash rate
This isn’t the first time bitcoin’s hash rate reached an all time high (ATH), however. Back in January, the network has an average rate of 190.71 EH/s, despite Kazakhstan shutting down its internet, preventing miners from operating.
In January, the network had an average hash rate of 190.71 EH/s despite problems with miners in Kazakhstan. During a period of social unrest, the Kazakh government shut down the internet, causing Bitcoin’s hash rate to drop by around 13%. With the country being the second largest mining center in the world, this was a major concern as miners debated whether or not to migrate to other countries to continue their operations.
The rising hash rate shows that despite the cryptocurrency dropping in value, there is still significant community support.
Bitcoin mining elicits different reactions
Bitcoin mining has come under various criticism due to its high energy consumption, which many believe harms the environment.
In Europe, the Governor of Hungary Central Bank, György Matolcsy, recently called on the EU to ban crypto mining, which came only weeks after Swedish authorities also called for a ban of the activity.
The global energy shortage and the effect of climate change have again put crypto mining in the spotlight, but not everyone is in favor of banning cryptocurrency mining.
While agreeing that there’s a need for regulations, some stakeholders disagree on banning crypto mining.
European Union (EU) Member of Parliament Stefan Berger recently launched a crypto ban that would be a death sentence for Bitcoin in the EU.
Norway’s largest Bitcoin miner, Kryptovault also expressed its desire to change the narrative surrounding mining’s energy usage and contribution to pollution. Currently, the country uses 100% clean energy, with 95% hydropower and 5% windpower. Its CEO, Kjetil Hove Pettersen says that there are other ways to mine beyond just coal.
“If you’re mining coal for mining, that’s a different story, that’s what you don’t want. Mining can be done in more places like Norway – and it can be a way to save trapped energy,” he shared.
Many in the crypto community are also pointing at the possibility of crypto mining encouraging renewable energy development.
In the United States, renewable energy has already been proposed to Congress, with Texas Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) talking about the abundance of natural gas – which, if burned on site, could use its energy with generators to mine bitcoin. . The problem, however, with Senator Cruz’s reasoning is that this process still releases a byproduct into the air.
