Bitcoin Miners Struggle as Mining Difficulty Reaches All-Time High, Riot Platforms Bucks the Trend

Bitcoin miners faced lower production in January 2025 as Bitcoin mining difficulty increased. The difficulty of confirming transactions and mining new Bitcoin reached 110 trillion (T), marking an all-time high.

Bitcoin miners faced lower production in January 2025 as Bitcoin mining difficulty reached an all-time high.

The difficulty of confirming transactions and mining new Bitcoin reached 110 trillion (T), marking a 2.12% increase from the previous adjustment. However, in the final week of January, the difficulty decreased by 2.12% to 108T, offering some relief to miners.

Meanwhile, the Bitcoin hashrate, which measures the total computational power securing the network, stood at approximately 832 exahashes per second (EH/s) during this period. Notably, recent cold weather across the U.S. led some mining companies to temporarily reduce operations, contributing to the decline in difficulty. As conditions improved, these companies began resuming capacity, with Bitcoin’s three-day average hashrate rebounding above 800 EH/s following the adjustment.

Bitcoin miners faced lower production in January 2025 as Bitcoin mining difficulty reached an all-time high.

The difficulty of confirming transactions and mining new Bitcoin reached 110 trillion (T), marking a 2.12% increase from the previous adjustment. However, in the final week of January, the difficulty decreased by 2.12% to 108T, offering some relief to miners.

Moreover, institutional mining firms increased hardware purchases in the third and fourth quarters of 2023, which led to a significant post-halving hashrate surge. However, hardware purchasing activity cooled down in the second half of 2024, indicating that the rapid growth in mining competition may be slowing. This trend is also supported by a decline in exports of leading machines—including WhatsMiner, Avalon, and Antminer—to the U.S. in the latter part of 2024.

In response to evolving market dynamics, some mining firms are diversifying their operations. For instance, Riot Platforms paused a 600-megawatt Bitcoin mining expansion in Texas and is reserving that capacity for potential AI/high-performance computing hosting. Similarly, Bitfarms signed a binding letter of intent with HIVE to sell its unfinished 200 MW Bitcoin mine in Paraguay for $85 million in cash. The company plans to reinvest the proceeds into its 1-gigawatt U.S. expansion, which includes Bitcoin and AI/HPC infrastructure.

The Bitcoin mining industry continues to adapt to shifting network conditions as firms deploy more efficient mining hardware and adjust operations.