Bitcoin mining difficulty hits 148 trillion as revenues fall to three-month lows

Bitcoin's mining difficulty jumped 5.54% on Oct. 29 as recovering network computing power intensified competition among miners already facing shrinking revenues.Data from Nodewitness shows the adjustment increased difficulty from 140.58 trillion to 148.36 trillion, following another 5.92% increase on Oct. 16.The increase comes as Bitcoin miners rebuild the network's computing power despite an industrywide shift toward artificial intelligence infrastructure. However, the recovery is adding financial pressure, with mining revenue falling toward $33 per petahash per second daily, its lowest level since August.Bitcoin miners rebuild network strength despite AI infrastructure shiftAccording to Real Vision chief crypto analyst Jamie Coutts, Bitcoin's mining network has staged a substantial recovery following one of its steepest contractions in years.Coutts noted that the network's 14-day average hashrate declined 23% between its October 2025 peak and February 2026, marking the steepest decline since China's mining ban in 2021.The contraction reflected several factors, including severe winter weather that temporarily disrupted operations and growing concerns that mining companies were aba...