# Bitcoin (BTC) Difficulty Increase Projected at 4.8% Ahead of Next Adjustment By Simon Yoon Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/technology/40525 Published: 2026-10-25T12:27:27.000Z Updated: 2026-10-25T12:27:27.000Z Section: Technology > The Oct. 25 snapshot showed 693 blocks left in the cycle and an estimated one-week average hashrate of 1.08 zettahashes per second. Bitcoin (BTC) mining difficulty was projected to rise 4.8% at the next adjustment as of 8:21 a.m. ET (12:21 UTC) Sunday, Oct. 25, with 693 blocks left in the current cycle. Difficulty stood at 140.58 trillion, and Bitcoin’s estimated one-week average hashrate was 1.08 zettahashes per second. Earlier projections for the same upcoming adjustment included a 2.05% estimate on Oct. 17 and a separate 6.44% projection for a retarget expected around Oct. 29. The current estimate falls between those readings and can shift as blocks are produced. [The Oct. 17 estimate]() and [the earlier projection for the Oct. 29 retarget]() covered the same adjustment. Bitcoin adjusts mining difficulty after each 2,016-block cycle, based on how long the cycle took to complete. The network aims for an average block time of 10 minutes. A higher difficulty means miners must do more computational work to find a block; the adjustment itself does not set a price target for Bitcoin. ## Links in this article - [The Oct. 17 estimate](https://www.tokenpost.com/news/technology/33975) - [the earlier projection for the Oct. 29 retarget](https://www.tokenpost.com/news/technology/37419)