Key points to remember:
- Bitcoin difficulty fell by 2.43% to 135.59T on April 17, 2026, easing mining conditions.
- Hashrateindex.com shows hash price up 13.65%, boosting bitcoin miner short-term income.
- Bitcoin hash rate exceeds 1 ZH/s; faster blocks suggest a possible increase in difficulty between now and April 30.
Bitcoin Changing network signals
So far, 2026 has seen a total of eight difficulty adjustments, five of which came as reductions and three as increases. The downward revisions have significantly lowered the target, making bitcoin mining less demanding than it was at the end of 2025, at least in difficulty.
Notably, the last case of difficulty at this level dates back to September 2025 at the height of block 913248. With the last adjustment to block 945504, the mining difficulty decreased from 138.96 trillion to 135.59 trillion, a variation of 2.43%.
Bitcoin prices strengthened and between March 18 and April 18, the price of hash increased by 13.65%, according to measurements recorded by hashrateindex.com. Hashprice essentially represents the daily value of 1 petahash per second (PH/s) of hashrate, although it can also be expressed in other units such as terahash or exahash.
Improving revenues and reducing hardship should provide miners with some breathing room in the short term, at least until the next adjustment scheduled around April 30. Yet the network hashrate continues to exceed 1,000 exahash per second (EH/s), or 1 zettahash per second (ZH/s), with blocking intervals accelerating.
While it is still far too early to draw definitive conclusions, the average interval of 9 minutes 35 seconds suggests a likely upward adjustment. For those in the mining sector, 2026 has played out as a period of adjustment, with on-chain activity slowing in 2025 but now showing the first signs of renewed traction.
Fees still remain quite minimal, with mempool.space and other Bitcoin data platforms reporting an average of around 1 satoshi per virtual byte. Data from hashrateindex.com further shows that over the past day, fees accounted for just 0.45% of the total block revenue distributed to miners.
The latest figures point to a mining environment that is softening on one side and tightening on the other. Lower difficulty and higher hash price offer short-term relief, but persistent hash strength and faster block times suggest the network is already recalibrating.
If current conditions continue, the next adjustment could reverse the trend, reinforcing how quickly the balance shifts as mining companies respond to prices, incentives and competition.
