Bitcoin experienced significant fluctuations in January, setting a new record by surpassing $108,000 but later dipping to around $89,000, a level last seen in November 2024.
While the price movement raised questions, the network’s hash rate, a key indicator of mining competition and difficulty, showed a subtle increase.
Despite the mixed price performance, the Bitcoin network’s hash rate grew modestly. Analysts from JPMorgan noted that January saw a small uptick in the hash rate, with an increase of 1% bringing it to 785 exahashes per second (EH/s). At the same time, mining difficulty saw a slight reduction, falling by 2% for the month.
However, the drop in mining difficulty was seen as unusual, as it rarely occurs. Still, analysts pointed out that the current difficulty is 25% higher than it was before the halving event in April 2024.
In terms of mining profitability, there was a slight improvement. Miners saw a small increase in earnings, with an average daily block reward of $57,200 per EH/s, a less than 1% gain compared to the previous month.
A well-known analyst who accurately predicted Bitcoin’s pre-halving pullback last year is still optimistic about BTC’s potential for a major upward move, despite recent price corrections.
Wyoming is set to introduce its own stablecoin, WYST, by July, marking a significant step in the state’s venture into digital assets.
GameStop (GME) has announced its intention to raise up to $1.3 billion through a private offering of convertible senior notes, which will serve to fund a variety of corporate purposes, including purchasing Bitcoin.
Bitcoin analyst Timothy Peterson remains confident in the cryptocurrency’s future prospects, predicting a 75% likelihood that Bitcoin will reach new price highs within the next nine months.