Bitcoin’s mining difficulty, which is a measure of the network’s security against potential malicious actors, has adjusted to a new high.

Data sets from bitinfocharts.com show that bitcoin’s mining difficulty adjusted to 25.05 Trillion on Thursday at block height 683,424 with a 21% jump over the previous record. This is also the largest percentage increase since July 2014.

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Bitcoin mining difficulty is designed to self-adjust every 2,016 blocks based on the average block production intervals, typically lasting for 14 days.

If the average is shorter than 10 minutes, then more hash rate is required during the period. To remedy this situation, the network will increase the difficulty settings to accommodate the rising level of competition in the blockchain. Conversely, if the average block interval last more than 10 minutes, the network difficulty will fall.

The last time a 21% bitcoin mining difficulty adjustment took place was in October 2017. Today, the largest difficulty jump came after a speedy recovery following incidents in China’s Xinjiang province.

Security incidents caused China’s northeastern power region to take a hit in mid-April, forcing a shut down of electricity supplies to data centres in the area. Consequently, bitcoin mining facilities were shut down for about a week before slowly returning on April 22. This was also a major reason for the 12% decline on May second.

Additionally, new equipment from Chinese manufacturers are starting to come online as well. Overall, the average hash rate between May 2nd and Thursday was about 179 exahashes per second, an increase of 6% relative to previous average of 168 EH/S recorded between April 2nd and 16th.

Overall, about 10EH/s of computing power in the form of newly delivered machines are now connected to the network.

Security accidents at several mines in China’s northeastern region took place in mid-April, causing power plants in Xinjiang to shut down electricity supplies to data centers in the region. As a result, most of the bitcoin mining facilities in the area shut down for about a week before gradually returning to life on April 22. That was also a primary factor behind the bitcoin mining difficulty’s 12% decline posted on May 2.

Further, newly shipped mining equipment from major manufacturers is hitting the market and coming online as well.

Overall, the average bitcoin hash rate between May 2nd and Thursday was around 179 exahashes per second (EH/s), which has increased by 6% in comparison to the previous average high of 168 EH/s recorded between April 2 and 16.

Overall, about 10EH/s of computing power are powering the bitcoin network over the past month. That’s equal to about 100,000 units of the latest generation of bitcoin mining hardware

That means, on average, around 10 EH/s of computing power from newly delivered machines have been connected to the network over the past month. That amount of hashing power is equal to roughly 100,000 units of the newest generation of bitcoin mining hardware.

Bitcoin mining has taken the green route over the course of its history, with some 76% of miners being powered by renewable energy sources. That number is expected to grow as the positive feedback loop pushes the boundaries for green energy technology.

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