Bitcoin Price Soars 14% in 7 Days: Where is BTC Heading Now?

• Bitcoin’s price has seen a significant increase of 14% over the past seven days.
• Bitcoin’s hashrate is expected to experience the biggest increase of the year, reaching 300 EH/s by 2023.
• The expected difficulty adjustment will make it more difficult for miners to discover new blocks and could potentially cause an increase in its price due to its scarcity.

Bitcoin Price Increase

Bitcoin’s price has seen a significant increase of 14% over the past seven days, leading many to wonder where the cryptocurrency is headed in the near future.

Network Difficulty Adjustment

Bitcoin’s hashrate stayed above 200 exahash-per-second (EH/s) throughout 2022. Nonetheless, it appears that 300 EH/s will be the new normal by 2023. According to recent statistics, Bitcoin’s hashrate has averaged roughly 310.5 EH/s over the last 2,016 blocks, with block timings ranging from 8 minutes and 55 seconds to 8 minutes and 68 seconds. These indicators point to a considerable rise in difficulty, which is expected on February 24.The following are the results of a survey conducted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The predicted increase for this modification will be between 10.78% and 11.5%. The present difficulty is around 39.16 trillion hashes, and the next adjustment will very certainly increase it to 40 trillion. A 10.78% increase would yield a difficulty rating of around 43.35 trillion hashes. Whatever the decision, a rise in difficulty will make it more difficult for Bitcoin miners to discover new blocks.

Implications for Miners & Price

The expected increase in Bitcoin’s network difficulty, combined with a high hashrate and shorter block times, means that it will become more difficult for miners to discover new blocks. This could result in a slowdown in the rate at which new Bitcoin is produced, and potentially cause an increase in its price due to its scarcity.

Centralization & Security Risks

The high hashrate and concentration of mining power in few major mining pools may raise concerns about centralization and security risks.

Overall Security Enhancing

Nonetheless, this same concentration may enhance overall security making it more resilient against potential attacks.