# Bitcoin mining difficulty rises 5.54% in 11th upward adjustment of 2026

By Enna Lee

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/investing/45471
Published: 2026-10-31T12:01:31.000Z
Updated: 2026-10-31T12:01:31.000Z
Section: Investing

> Bitcoin mining difficulty increased 5.54% to 148.36T, its 11th rise of 2026. Hash rate declined, while the next adjustment is estimated to reduce difficulty by 3.49%.

Bitcoin mining difficulty rose 5.54% to 148.36T, marking its 11th increase of 2026 as network hash rate declined.

The latest adjustment took effect at block height 973,728, lifting the difficulty level to 148.36T.

Of the 22 difficulty adjustments this year, 11 have been increases and 11 have been decreases.

Bitcoin automatically adjusts mining difficulty every 2,016 blocks, roughly two weeks, to keep average block production close to 10 minutes as computing power changes.

Higher difficulty means miners need more computing work on average to earn the same bitcoin reward. It raises the computational requirements for producing valid blocks.

The network hash rate stood at 1,064.80 EH/s, down from 1,228.44 EH/s the previous week. The weekly average was 1,053.12 EH/s.

Hash rate measures the computing power committed to the network and indicates mining participation. It can decline when lower mining revenue or higher operating costs prompt miners to stop operating.

Average block production time, the interval between blocks recording verified transactions, was approximately 10 minutes and 2 seconds.

The next adjustment, due in approximately 12 days and 18 hours at block height 975,744, is estimated to lower difficulty by 3.49% to 143.19T.