Bitcoin Price Falls as Miners' Hash Rate Hits All-Time Highs

Bitcoin's overall protocol security, or hash rate, hit a new high of 158 exahash per second despite a further price drop 50% since the beginning of the year.

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Bitcoin miners can't stop, won't stop. The Bitcoin (BTC) hash rate continues to hit new all-time highs, despite a sharp drop in price.

Bitcoin's mining hash rate peaked at 258 exahashes per second (EH/s) on October 4, according to Braiins Insights, a mining data measurement and tools company. Although the price of Bitcoin is down 58% year-to-date against the US dollar, the mining hash rate is up 43%.

The Hashrate of the last 3 months. Source: Brainins.

Bitcoin Gandalf of Braiins marketing team told Cointelegraph that “Hash rate hitting another all-time high shows miners are optimistic about Bitcoin’s future prospects” . Nonetheless, the current macroeconomic environment could pose a problem, as "the present is not so rosy for Bitcoin miners," Gandalf said, adding:

“Bitcoin continues to trade in this narrow band between $19,000 and $20,000 and this recent increase in hash rate will result in an upward adjustment in mining difficulty, meaning miner margins will be further reduced."

In a series of tweets, mining engineers and hobbyists shared their thoughts on the hash rate hitting all-time highs while the price remains low. Rob W of Bitcoin mining firm Upstream Data summed up the sentiment:

I'm really proud of all my underage friends, things are going great. pic.twitter.com/dIzh2ITTfq

— Rob W. (@Bikesa...