Since December 2022, Bitcoin mining difficulty is seeing its biggest drop.

The Bitcoin network's mining problem has experienced its biggest negative correction since December 2022, when the bear market went into full swing.

According to data from the real-time Bitcoin dashboard Bitbo, the mining problem fell 5.7% to 83.1 trillion on Thursday at a block height of 842,688.

The problem of Bitcoin mining is negative

Bitcoin mining difficulty measures how difficult and time consuming it is to produce a new block. The problem is that when the number of active miners increases and decreases, it simplifies the mining process for other miners.

The mining difficulty is automatically adjusted after every 2,016 blocks, which is every two weeks, ensuring that a new block is produced every 10 minutes on average, regardless of the number of active miners.

The last time Bitcoin saw a negative correction similar to the one recorded today was 18 months ago when the price of BTC stopped at $17,000. At the time of writing, BTC is exchanging hands at $61,700.

Interestingly, crypto derivatives exchange Bitget reported two days ago that Bitcoin mining is on track to see its biggest decline since the implosion of the defunct crypto exchange FTX. This is due to a 10% decrease in the hash rate of the Bitcoin network. However, according to Bitgate on-chain data, the difficulty of mining is reduced by only 4 percent.

Additionally, Bitgate said a drop in mining difficulty could change the balance between mining profitability and operating costs, indicating that financial dynamics are changing.

Miners face less struggle.

The latest adjustment to Bitcoin's mining woes comes three weeks after the fourth halving, which saw miners drop from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. The fix could make mining a little easier than it has been for the past two weeks, alleviating the problems miners faced on half of the websites.

Before and after the halving, Bitcoin mining difficulty grew by 4% and 2%, respectively, reaching 88.1 trillion for the first time. These positive adjustments can be attributed to the buzz surrounding the launch of the Runes protocol and miners increasing their hash rate in anticipation of the slash in block rewards. Specifically, the mining problem grew 8.2 percent in February, reaching a record 81 trillion.

With Bitcoin's hash rate, mining difficulty and transaction fees plummeting, it remains to be seen how miners will navigate the current crypto environment without going underwater.