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Bitcoin Set for Biggest Mining Difficulty Drop Since July 2021

Bitcoin's hashrate collapse triggers a projected 9% difficulty adjustment, offering miners temporary relief amid seasonal and post-halving pressure.

Jun 24, 2025, 9:46 a.m.
BTC Hash Rate Adjustment Change (Glassnode)
BTC Hash Rate Adjustment Change (Glassnode)

What to know:

  • The hashrate has fallen roughly 30% in two weeks to under 700 EH/s, the steepest drop since China’s 2021 mining ban.
  • A 9% downward difficulty adjustment is expected in five days, easing mining conditions and likely boosting miner revenue per exahash.

Mining difficulty on the Bitcoin blockchain is on course to drop by the most since July 2021 after the amount of mining power securing the network slid about 30% in two weeks.

According to data from Mempool.space, a downward difficulty adjustment of around 9% is projected within the next five days. That would be the most since the China mining ban four years ago, when the hashrate, the total computational power used to mine blocks, plummeted 50% to 58 exahashes per second (EH/s) and bitcoin was trading near $30,000.

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The difficulty adjusts every 2,016 blocks to ensure that blocks continue to be mined at roughly 10-minute intervals. After the recent decline, the hashrate is now just under 700 EH/s, according to Glassnode data. The largest cryptocurrency by market cap was trading recently around $105,300.

Significant hashrate and difficulty corrections are not unusual during the northern hemisphere's summer. Elevated electricity prices, driven by higher air conditioning demand and strained power grids, often lead miners to temporarily shut off machines, especially older or less efficient ones. This seasonal pattern has been observed in several previous years.

The anticipated drop in mining difficulty will provide meaningful relief for miners. The hashprice, or miner revenue per exahash, currently sits at $51.9. This metric reflects the estimated daily income in dollars a miner earns per EH/s contributed to the network, based on block rewards and transaction fees.

As difficulty decreases, mining becomes easier, meaning miners can earn more revenue for the same amount of computational effort. Assuming bitcoin’s price and transaction fees remain stable or increase, the hashprice should rise significantly in the coming days, helping to offset recent profitability pressure.

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KuCoin Hits Record Market Share as 2025 Volumes Outpace Crypto Market

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KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.

What to know:

  • KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
  • This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
  • Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
  • Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
  • Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.

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Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest files for two crypto index ETFs tied to CoinDesk 20

Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood

One proposed fund will attempt to exactly mimic the CoinDesk 20, but the other would track the index, excluding bitcoin.

What to know:

  • ARK Invest has filed with U.S. regulators to launch two cryptocurrency ETFs tracking the CoinDesk 20 index.
  • One proposed fund would track the CoinDesk 20, which provides exposure to major tokens, including bitcoin, ether, solana, XRP, and cardano. The other would track the same index, but exclude bitcoin, by pairing long index futures with short bitcoin futures.
  • The funds, which would list on NYSE Arca if approved, aim to offer diversified crypto exposure without direct token custody and follow similar, still-unapproved crypto index ETF proposals from WisdomTree and ProShares.