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The Bitcoin network, which is run by miners and determined by the amount of processing, or hashing, power that is going into it, is on a tear away. The network has seen another sharp increase in its computing power which has risen an additional 25  percent hsi week alone. This puts it at nearly 90 quintillion hashes per second.

The growth of the hashrate has been steady, and it has been breaking new highs almost every day. It is a good sign for the Bitcoin network as a high hashrate is a generally accepted sign of a healthy network, and also goes to show an increasing interest and adoption of Bitcoin.

This is further explained by the dominance of Bitcoin over the rest of the cryptocurrency market. The coin crossed over the 70 percent dominance range this week as well as it continues to draw more adoption from users and moners alike. 

One of the reasons for this growth in hashrate may well be the impending mining rewards halvening which is set for May next year. This will see miners received 50 percent less Bitcoin when they mine a new blockchain on the chain. In anticipation, miners could well be trying to absorb as much rewards as they could before that event. 

More so, when miners are active and generally pushing the boundaries of the hashrate, it makes their work harder and the difficulty increases, but at the same time, that risk is mitigated as the assumption and belief is that Bitcoin’s value is to increase in the future. 

Mining and price interlinked

It has been seen before when there is activity in the mining secotr of a blockchain, it usually follows that the price is also set for a big movement. Bitcoin’s mining has rate passed 80 quintillion h/s for the first time in early August, and has set new highs on an almost daily basis in recent months. 

We are now seeing miners working hard on Bitcoin’s blockchain after last year’s hash rate slump, something accompanied by a price bull run beginning April 1. This is leading some to believe that the hashrate will keep gaining, as will the price. 

“The race to mine the last 3 million Bitcoin will keep hashrate growing rapidly for the next few years,” Blockstream CSO, Samson Mow, wrote on Twitter on Monday.

RT host Max Keiser meanwhile pointed to ongoing political upheaval in the United Kingdom as fuelling the Bitcoin price.

“Bitcoin hash rate continues strong upturn. Price follows hash. Chaos as UK melts down bringing in panic buying from Brits, reportedly,” he said.

Because of the halvening?

This steady rise in hashing, and price, seems very much linked to the upcoming halvening. Litecoin recently had its halvening, and there are similarities and lessons to be learnt. 

With Bitcoin’s halving in 2020, it can be expected prices to follow broader market trends and other network metrics perhaps ticking up or down. But Litecoin's experience suggests that Bitcoin's halving may well bring a similar lack of drama. 

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