Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Stays Below Record High for 374 Days, Longest Such Stretch Ever
Bitcoin mining difficulty has remained below its all-time high for 374 consecutive days, marking the longest such stretch on record.Bitcoin.com reported on Nov. 7 that the metric has stayed below the record 155.97T reached on Oct. 29, 2025, for 374 days. That exceeds the previous 364-day stretch recorded after Bitcoin's 2011 crash. In 2021, after China's mining ban, it took 253 days for difficulty to recover its prior peak.Mining difficulty is a measure of how hard it is to generate a new block on the Bitcoin network. It is adjusted about every two weeks and varies depending on the amount of computing power participating in mining.The metric fell to 124.93T in mid-June this year, about 20% below the record high. It later recovered to 148.36T on Oct. 29, but remained below the peak.A return to a record high appears difficult for now. Mempool.space projects that the next difficulty adjustment, scheduled for Nov. 13, will bring a further decline of about 3.7%.Deteriorating profitability in the mining industry is cited as the main reason. As Bitcoin prices remain weak and operating costs rise, more mining companies are selling their Bitcoin holdings or shifting to AI data center businesses.