The Bitcoin Network Lost More Than A Third Of Its Hash Rate

The Bitcoin network has been a little disappointing over the last few days. Firstly it was the Bakkt launch and how the realization came about, that the company might not yet do anything for Bitcoin. Now, the network has had a very shocking dip in its hash rate as it dropped by about 40% on Monday the 23^rd. The hashrate which had reached about 98,000,000 TH/S mysteriously fell to about 57,700,700 TH/S.

What makes this a lot more shocking is the fact that over the last few weeks, Bitcoin had been consistently setting new all time high hash rate records. As time goes on, there are more than a few new miners joining the network, which is expected to have a positive outlook on the asset’s hashrate. So, it becomes a bit worrisome when the hash rate drops this steeply, rather than fluctuating a little.

The Bitcoin hashrate generally refers to the total computing power being dedicated to the network by miners who need to produce or validate new blocks. A higher hashrate means that more power is dedicated and also ensures that the network is a lot more secure and a lot less susceptible to breaches like the a 51% attack.

The Bitcoin price also took a dive and fell below $8,000 for the first time since June. Even though it has since picked up, the network is clearly in dire need of a major boost as the price is still less than $8,500 at press time.

Image Credits: Pixabay