Bitcoin (BTC) Difficulty Increase Projected at 4.8% Ahead of Next Adjustment

Bitcoin (BTC) mining difficulty was projected to rise 4.8% at the next adjustment as of 8:21 a.m. ET (12:21 UTC) Sunday, Oct. 25, with 693 blocks left in the current cycle. Difficulty stood at 140.58 trillion, and Bitcoin’s estimated one-week average hashrate was 1.08 zettahashes per second. Earlier projections for the same upcoming adjustment included a 2.05% estimate on Oct. 17 and a separate 6.44% projection for a retarget expected around Oct. 29. The current estimate falls between those readings and can shift as blocks are produced. The Oct. 17 estimate and the earlier projection for the Oct.