Bitcoin’s hashrate has officially crossed the 1 zettahash per second (ZH/s) threshold for the first time in history, according to Glassnode data. This milestone comes as the network’s mining difficulty also jumped nearly 7%—its steepest increase since July 2024—driven by unprecedented levels of computing power securing the blockchain.
The previous all-time high for hashrate was set on January 31, when the network reached 975 exahashes per second (EH/s). Bitcoin originally surpassed 1 EH/s in 2016, making this latest leap a 1,000-fold increase in less than a decade.
Research from CoinDesk, published April 3, had already highlighted the hashrate’s climb to record territory, despite a disconnect with bitcoin’s (BTC) price performance. Since then, BTC has dropped an additional 10%, in part due to renewed trade tensions and tariffs under President Trump’s administration, and now trades near $77,000.
Although single-day hashrate figures can fluctuate due to natural variance in block times, the 1 ZH/s figure marks a symbolic achievement. A more reliable view using the 7-day moving average currently places the network hashrate at 879 EH/s.
Alongside the hashrate spike, Bitcoin’s mining difficulty increased by nearly 7% on Sunday, setting a new high of 121.5 trillion (T). This adjustment, the most significant since July last year, is part of the network’s built-in mechanism to ensure that new blocks continue to be mined roughly every 10 minutes. Out of the last 17 adjustments, 14 have been upward, reflecting steady growth in mining activity.
However, while network strength reaches new heights, miner profitability continues to suffer. Hashprice—a measure of daily mining revenue per exahash—has dropped to a record low of $42.40. The decline is attributed to rising difficulty, subdued transaction fees, and a cooling bitcoin price, all of which are squeezing miner margins.
