The difficulty adjustment has stirred up reactions on Twitter, with Twitter users praising Bitcoin Founder Satoshi Nakamoto.
Since 2011, Bitcoin recently had its biggest difficulty drop, after which the network adjusted itself automatically by 16%. Despite the significant drop, the price of the giant token remains stable.
Bitcoin Mining Difficulty
On the 3rd of November, the Bitcoin network automatically adjusted after its biggest mining difficulty drop in years. According to data from BTC.com, Bitcoin difficulty automatically adjusted by 16%. Before now, there were estimates that the adjustments would be around 13%.
The recent adjustment marks the second-highest since the creation of Bitcoin in 2009. The highest adjustment was 18% in 2011.
On-chain market analyst Glassnode posted the Bitcoin difficulty chart on Twitter.
We just observed the 2nd largest negative #Bitcoin mining difficulty adjustment in history: -16%
It topped the -15.9% change in March this year.
The only other time difficulty saw a larger downwards adjustment (-18%) was over 9 years ago, in Oct 2011.https://t.co/hXl4n3DAYR pic.twitter.com/7zgwMjNj13
— glassnode (@glassnode) November 3, 2020
According to a Cointelegraph report, the next adjustment is estimated at another -16%.
The difficulty adjustment has stirred up reactions on Twitter, with Twitter users praising Bitcoin Founder Satoshi Nakamoto. The founder of Ikigai Asset Management Travis Kling also commented on the Bitcoin automatic adjustment following its difficulty drop. In a tweet, he said:
“There is no more beautiful aspect of Bitcoin than the difficulty adjustment. Just flat out gorgeous mechanism design.”
Notably, the price of Bitcoin has been relatively stable despite the difficulty adjustment. At press time, BTC is up 0.14% to $13,542. Also, the giant coin boasts of over $250 billion market cap.
Bitcoin on the Rise
Over time, the price of Bitcoin has been increasing, hitting its new all-time-high since January 2018. On the 31st of October, Bitcoin surged to $14,100 across all major cryptocurrency exchanges.
As noted in a Coinspeaker report, BTC hit $14,000 on the same day Nakamoto released the asset whitepaper in 2008.
In reaction to the increase, analysts are becoming more bullish, raising their targets for BTC. Some traders predicted that Bitcoin would hit a new ATH of more than $20,000 soon. The recent and significant increases in the price of Bitcoin can be tied to several factors. On the 30th of October, just hours before BTC hit $14,100, the digital asset climbed 5% in reaction to an announcement by European Central Bank (ECB).
ECB announced that there could be a new stimulus package in December amid the persisting coronavirus pandemic. U.S. President Donald Trump also said the stimulus would take effect after the presidential election. Before the ECB announcement, the U.S. stock market has been declining due to the rise in the number of COVID-19 cases. However, Bitcoin continued to rise.
Apart from individual demands for BTC, there has also been a rise in the giant digital asset’s institutional demand. Months ago, MicroStrategy purchased 21,454 BTC, declaring Bitcoin as its primary treasury reserve asset.
Ibukun is a crypto/finance writer interested in passing relevant information, using non-complex words to reach all kinds of audience. Apart from writing, she likes to see movies, cook, and explore restaurants in the city of Lagos, where she resides.
