Bitcoin recently took fresh aim at the $38,000 level as investors shook off Binance’s mammoth $4.3 billion fine and guilty plea by its founder and CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao. BTC’s latest price rally has made mining very profitable again as the asset’s hash rate climbs to a new all-time high ahead of the much-awaited April 2024 halving.
Bitcoin Hash Rate Breaks New Record
A key metric of miner confidence is stopping at nothing in its quest to surge to new levels never seen before amid rising prices.
According to data provided by Blockchain.com, the top cryptocurrency network’s hash rate reached a new all-time high of 497 exahashes per second (EH/s) on Nov. 22. This implies that Bitcoin mining machines across the globe validating BTC transactions are making 497 quintillion hash computations every second.
The hash rate is typically seen as a barometer of miners’ confidence in the Bitcoin price rally. Miners will, therefore, dedicate more resources to the complicated puzzle-solving process if they are bullish on price. They would likely reduce operations if a price slump is expected.
Further, the higher the Bitcoin hash rate, the more expensive it is for bad actors to take control of more than 50% of the network.
Bitcoin To $48,700 Pre-Halving?
With the fourth Bitcoin reward halving due in roughly five months, market sentiment is particularly bullish. The halving event is expected to occur on April 16, 2024, when block rewards will be slashed from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. The steady increase in miners’ confidence is believed to have bullish implications for the Bitcoin price as signs of the strength and robustness of the network buoy investors and pundits alike.
As ZyCrypto reported previously, some analysts think Bitcoin’s bullish momentum will likely remain intact in the coming months, lifting prices to the $48,700 mark before the halving.
Bitcoin is currently trading for $37,163, up 1.8% in the last 24 hours, per CoinGecko data. The premier crypto is still over 46% down from its $69,044 peak recorded in November 2021. As the old adage goes, “price follows hash rate,” and investors will be watching the metric keenly as it drifts ever higher.
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