Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin Miners Power Up Rigs to Record Levels Ahead of ‘Halving’
- Firms have ratcheted up more computing power than ever
- The halving slashes main revenue for miners by half overnight
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Bitcoin miners are generating more computing power than ever to mint the cryptocurrency ahead of a code adjustment within two weeks that will dramatically reduce revenue for the companies.
Mining difficulty, a measure of computing power to create fresh tokens, reached a record high on Wednesday. The latest bi-weekly update is the last reading before the “halving” set to take place on or around April 20. That figure has jumped by nearly 600% since the last halving in 2020, according to data compiled by btc.com, while the rate of energy consumption is seeing a rapid rise over the same period.