The Bitcoin hash rate fell from 180 EH / s to 145 EH / s in a matter of one week. With 5 days remaining for the next difficulty setting, there could be congestion in the network.

Since May 13 to the date, the Bitcoin hash rate fell from more than 180 EH / s to 145 EH / s, according to the 7-day average calculated by blockchain.com. The computational measurement in Bitcoin works by approximations, so the numbers might vary by source.

However, these numbers mark coincidences in the fall of the last days, with insignificant variations. BitInfoCharts, shows a peak of over a week ago around 171 EH / s. And although it reflected a level below 120 EH / s last Saturday, May 22, for today it shows an accumulated power of more than 150EH / s.

The loss of processing power can be happening because of several causes. But the main factor seems to be China, which makes sense considering that a vast amount of Bitcoin mining pools comes from there.

A very powerful rainy season in the Asian country could be the main cause of the fall of part of the accumulated processing power, as Alejandro de la Torre, an executive of one of the main Bitcoin mining groups, had commented a few days ago.

Also recently, China strengthened its position against Bitcoin with a new set of bans and prohibitions on the use of cryptocurrencies for institutions and means of payment. Then Reuters outlined the Chinese government’s intention to crack down on those who mine Bitcoin on its territory with “strong measures.”

The persecution of miners in the Asian country started with measures such as the one taken by the Inner Mongolia region a few days ago. The local authorities launched a campaign asking their citizens to report those who take part in digital mining.

Local media also reported the suspension of all services associated with Bitcoin mining by the Huobi exchange, in response to the measures announced by the Chinese government.

Network Congestion is a Possibility

The Bitcoin hash rate collapse comes right after an adjustment that took the difficulty to the all-time highs. However, the situation has not generated a big deal about congestion or another vital increase in commissions for transactions on the network.

Currently, there are about 25,000 transactions waiting for confirmation in the Bitcoin mempool with less than 100 satoshis per byte of commission to enter the next mined block.

Normally, the movement of transactions declines at the weekends, bringing more decongestion to the network. According to data from Mempool.space, a 16% drop in the difficulty of mining is coming, because of the loss of power accumulated by the miners. If this adjustment finally comes to happen, it would become the most pronounced downturn of the year, exceeding the 13% recorded at the beginning of May.

By: Jenson Nuñez

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