Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Drops 10% as Lower Hashrate Eases Pressure on Miners

Bitcoin mining difficulty fell by 10.09% on June 15, marking the 11th-largest downward adjustment in the network’s history. The adjustment reduced mining difficulty from 138.96 trillion to 124.93 trillion at block 953,568, providing relief to miners after weeks of declining profitability.

The latest adjustment is the second largest difficulty reduction of 2026 and leaves network difficulty nearly 20% below its peak level recorded in November.

Falling Bitcoin Price and Hashrate Trigger Adjustment

The decline comes as Bitcoin has dropped roughly 15% during June, putting significant pressure on mining operations. At the same time, network hashrate has weakened as some miners shut down machines due to lower profitability.

Total Bitcoin hashrate currently stands at around 886 exahashes per second (EH/s), down 12% this month and approximately 23% below its October peak. The recent mining epoch lasted 15.6 days, longer than the normal 14-day cycle, reflecting reduced mining activity across the network.

Higher Earnings for Active Miners

With fewer machines competing for block rewards, remaining miners are expected to earn about 9% more per machine. The difficulty reduction has also boosted hashprice by 13%, lifting it to approximately $33 per petahash per second per day.

Next Bitcoin Difficulty Adjustment

Industry estimates suggest the next difficulty adjustment could occur around June 27, with projections pointing to a modest increase of roughly 1.69%. While efficient mining operations are expected to remain profitable, older and less energy-efficient machines may continue to face economic pressure despite the recent improvement.