According to the study conducted by the institutional crypto company Galaxy Digital, the average block time on June 27 hit 23 minutes, considerably over the 10-minute goal duration.
In late 2017, the previous high was slightly under 18 minutes.
IT’S OFFICIAL: yesterday (june 27 2021), saw the slowest #bitcoin blocks in TEN YEARS (since 2010). blocks times avg. 23min, instead of the target 10min. the latest “china ban” is the most disruptive action the bitcoin network has ever faced, but it will survive, adapt, thrive 👇 pic.twitter.com/vEMR1zlDHx
— Alex Thorn 🎲 (@intangiblecoins) June 28, 2021
The network changes the difficulty level every 2016 blocks in an attempt to maintain a 10-minute average block time. If the block time is considerably less than the target time, the difficulty increases, and vice versa.
Because of the 23 minutes average block time, the Bitcoin network is expected to experience the biggest difficulty shift in history.
China’s ban has significantly decreased the network’s hashrate
Since China ordered a halt to Bitcoin mining, the hashrate has plummeted considerably. The total hashrate dropped from 181M in mid-May to under 100M last week. The China ban appears to be one of the most significant changes to happen to Bitcoin hashrate.
However, for Bitcoin, the migration of hashrate from China to other countries is beneficial since it increases the network’s decentralization.
As miners seek to relocate from China to other countries, the hashrate may continue to fall. A lower hashrate implies more Bitcoin for existing miners and more difficulty reductions.
Many miners are hoping to relocate to North America, where there is less chance of abrupt restrictions and easier access to utilities.
Other countries, including El Salvador, are focusing on mining with more sustainable energy sources, such as geothermal energy from volcanoes. As China turns away from mining Bitcoin, mining might provide a new source of cash for countries with considerable access to renewable energy.
Read also: Crypto Miner Hut 8 Plans to Hold 5K Bitcoin by 2022