The Bitcoin network mining difficulty rose to 148.2 trillion in the last adjustment of 2025 and is expected to increase further in January 2026, with the next adjustment projected for January 8, 2026. Average block times are currently around 9.95 minutes, slightly below the 10-minute target.

Mining difficulty hit all-time highs in 2025, with two sharp rises in September during an uptrend, before a historic market crash in October. Rising mining difficulty means miners must use more resources to stay competitive, adding to the challenges they already face in the capital-intensive sector.

Bitcoin’s mining difficulty adjustment safeguards network decentralization and the asset’s price by ensuring blocks are not mined too quickly or slowly. The adjustment occurs every 2016 blocks, or about every two weeks, to maintain an average block time close to 10 minutes, preventing any single miner from controlling the network.

A 51% attack could occur if a single miner or group controls the majority of the network’s computing power, leading to centralization and undermining Bitcoin’s core value proposition. The network’s hashrate, a measure of total computing power securing Bitcoin, continues to rise, offering additional protection against such attacks.

Even without a 51% attack, a miner with substantial resources could mine blocks rapidly, collect rewards, and sell BTC on the market, creating downward price pressure. Dynamic difficulty adjustments proportional to network computing resources help keep the protocol decentralized and stabilize Bitcoin’s price with a steady supply schedule.

Read more at Cointelegraph: Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Sees Last Adjustment Increase in 2025