Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Jumps 15% in Latest Hashrate Reboot

Cover image via U.Today Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by our writers are their own and do not represent the views of U.Today. The financial and market information provided on U.Today is intended for informational purposes only. U.Today is not liable for any financial losses incurred while trading cryptocurrencies. Conduct your own research by contacting financial experts before making any investment decisions. We believe that all content is accurate as of the date of publication, but certain offers mentioned may no longer be available. Read U.TODAY on Google News Bitcoin (BTC) mining difficulty has increased by approximately 15% as more computing power joined the network.  As per the update shared by a developer in the space, Mononaut, this percentage increase translates to 144.4 trillion and marks one of the largest increases on record. Advertisement How Bitcoin mining difficulty impacts network Notably, since 2021 to date , the Bitcoin mining difficulty has not jumped as high as 15%. The hashrate has also rebounded sharply from a low of 826 EH/s to 1 ZH/s. The development signals an increase in mining difficulty, which previously eased. For context, mining difficulty, which refers to how hard it is to mine a valid Bitcoin block, adjusts automatically approximately every two weeks, or 2,016 blocks. A higher mining difficulty implies that miners need more computing power and energy to earn the same amount of Bitcoin. ▲ 14.73% to 144.4T Bitcoin mining just got ~15% harder, with the largest ever increase in absolute difficulty, completely erasing last epoch's huge downwards adjustment. pic.twitter.com/qRHDELO4n5 — mononaut (@mononautical) February 20, 2026 According to Mononaut, the current increase has completely erased the "last epoch’s huge downward adjustment." This indicates that the previous difficulty adjustment, some two weeks ago, went down a lot, and miners were able to easily mine BTC. However, the current jump has canceled out that earlier drop and placed difficulty on a strong upward trend. This could have been caused by more miners coming online to engage and the increased hashrate, which saw a spike in the computing power of the network. This sharp percentage increase implies short-term bearish pressure on miners as they might be operating at a loss. Notably, this is because the cost of mining one Bitcoin is higher than the current market price of the asset, forcing miners to sell the new coins mined. However, in the long term, it is bullish for Bitcoin as a quick hashrate recovery signals network resilience, and this generally precedes price recoveries. Bitcoin has seen a slight price uptick, climbing from an intraday low of $65,637.43. You Might Also Like Fri, 02/20/2026 - 09:30 Ripple Advocate Trashes Banks As They Strive to Ban Stablecoin Yields Through Legislation By Yuri Molchan Bitcoin investors prepare for massive rally As of this writing, Bitcoin was changing hands at $68,104.38, which reflects a 1.57% increase in the last 24 hours. The coin’s trading volume has also increased slightly by 0.19% to $33.11 billion. Market activity suggests that investors, particularly whales, are in accumulation mode despite lingering price instability. As U.Today reported, whale holdings have increased by 3.4% from mid-December 2025 to date. The spike in accumulation suggests that these large holders are taking advantage of the dip to increase their portfolio. This is an expectation that a price breakout will continue to increase. Already, venture capitalist Tim Draper believes that Bitcoin could surge to over $268,000 within the next two years. #Bitcoin