Chinese miners face power outages, hash rate hits a new low, Bitcoin may migrate to Texas

This article is sourced from Cointelegraph, author: Martin Yang

According to Chain Catcher, as China's mining operations begin to shut down, Bitcoin's hash rate has fallen to its lowest level since early November. The Bitcoin network hash rate (a measure of its computing power) has decreased by 46% since peaking in mid-May.

According to Bitinfocharts data, the Bitcoin hash rate is currently at 91.2 EH/s (exahashes per second), nearly half of the 171.4 EH/s peak recorded less than six weeks ago. On the same pe, mining profitability has dropped from a peak of $0.449 per terahash per second to the current $0.226.

BTC's computing power has hit a new low for the first time in 8 months, last falling below 90 EH/s on November 3, 2020. Higher computing power means increased competition among miners in validating new blocks, while also raising the resource scale needed to execute a 51% attack, thereby making the network more secure.

The decline in computing power and mining profitability is due to the ongoing crackdown by Chinese authorities on Bitcoin mining facilities across the country. Images of major mining pools being shut down in Sichuan province circulated widely on social media last weekend.

According to a CNBC report, Castle Island Ventures partner Nic Carter noted that Bitcoin's hash rate is declining and speculated, "It seems that installations across the country are being shut down."

That is to say, over time, at least half of the entire Bitcoin hash rate will leave China. Due to favorable legislation and abundant low-cost renewable energy, North America, particularly Texas, has become one of the main destinations known as the "Great Mining Migration." (Cointelegraph)