Bitcoin's seven-day average hashrate has regained 1 zettahash per second, even as large public miners convert capacity to AI. Mining difficulty is on course for a second sizable increase in a row. Bitdeer's expansion and possible resale of used equipment may help explain the recovery.
The network's seven-day average regained 1 zettahash per second, or 1,000 EH/s, over the past week. That is its highest level since March 3. The rebound comes as public mining companies shed capacity, and the Bitcoin hashrate is rising anyway.
Difficulty rises again
Bitcoin's mining difficulty rose 5.92% on October 16. Block production so far in the current difficulty epoch points to another estimated 5.16% increase in about seven days. The estimate will move as more blocks arrive.
The AI shift is the backdrop. Miner Weekly earlier examined a 52% quarterly increase in directly reported HPC and AI revenue at public miners. It also looked at hardware investment of roughly $1.5 billion equivalent behind the displaced capacity, using an assumed purchase price of $20 per terahash.
Where the replacement capacity comes from
Bitdeer is one visible source. Its September update showed self-mining capacity of 82.3 EH/s, up from 79.9 EH/s in August and 35 EH/s a year earlier. Its co-mining business grew to 28.7 EH/s from 21.6 EH/s. Bitdeer is pursuing AI too, but has kept expanding its mining business.
There may also be a quieter contribution from small and medium-sized operators buying equipment the larger miners no longer need. Sazmining, for example, lists pre-owned Antminer S21 XP machines for hosting in Paraguay and Texas. The listings do not identify the original owners or show how much public-miner inventory reaches smaller buyers.
Core Scientific, meanwhile, terminated its equipment agreement with Block and Proto Global during the second quarter and recorded a $41.9 million loss. The agreement covered chips representing 15 EH/s. Sazmining now offers individual buyers access to Proto immersion hashboards, though the source says that does not establish it is selling Core's canceled inventory.
Source: Bitcoin News
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