Bitcoin Mining Surges to a Record as Merge Opens Up Capacity
- More computing power compresses margins for battered miners
- Bitcoin miners use space, power saved from Ether mining
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The amount of computing power dedicated to Bitcoin mining surged to a record as more companies made use of the energy and data center space freed up after the upgrade of the Ethereum network, likely further compressing profit margins.
Mining difficulty, a measure of Bitcoin miners’ computing power for the blockchain, has jumped by 13.6% in the two-weeks ended Monday. That was also the largest bi-weekly adjustment since last May. The increase is in part thanks to the decline of Ether mining, analysts said.