Bitcoin miners just got hit with a hefty 6.31% bump in difficulty this week, pushing the rating to a hefty 155.97 trillion. Even so, miners kept the hashrate roaring above the 1,100 exahash per second (EH/s) mark, with block times clocking in close to the classic 10-minute rhythm.
Bitcoin Miners Face the Squeeze Despite Modest Revenue Increase in October
October treated bitcoin miners a bit sweeter, dishing out roughly $1.595 billion in revenue — with around $1.584 billion of that coming straight from the block subsidy, according to figures collected by newhedge.io.
That’s a modest upgrade from September’s $1.564 billion haul, giving miners an extra $31 million to smile about. Overall, October’s paycheck was looking fresh — up 13.77% compared with January 2025’s take-home.
As of Saturday, Nov. 1, network stats from hashrateindex.com show the hashrate is cruising at a breezy 1,110.86 EH/s after flexing to 1,164 EH/s back on Oct. 19. That means about 54 EH/s has been trimmed since then, and with bitcoin’s price dipping and difficulty climbing 6.31%, miners are feeling the squeeze.
This latest difficulty hike ranks as the third biggest of the year, trailing only the difficulty retargets from July 12, 2025, and Apr. 5, 2025. Meanwhile, bitcoin’s price has slipped this week, and hashprice — the estimated worth of one petahash per second (PH/s) of mining power — has lost some shine since last month.
Thirty days ago, a PH/s fetched about $50.66, but today it’s closer to $44.67. Transaction fees? Still, the unreliable side hustle they’ve seen since last year. On average, less than 1% of each block reward’s value comes from onchain fees — basically pocket change in miner terms. On Saturday, the average fees in block rewards amount to 0.75% of the net value accrued when finding a block.
Miners are likely crossing their fingers that things even out soon — with bitcoin’s price climbing back to friendlier levels and hashprice following suit. After all, profitability hinges on a delicate balance between difficulty, energy costs, and market value. Two out of three of those are not playing nice.
If prices rebound and hashprice recovers, miners could finally breathe a little easier and keep their rigs humming without sweating every block. For miners, much like traders eyeing the charts with sweaty palms, it’s a waiting game — though in mining, patience doesn’t just cost nerves, it burns electricity and cash.
FAQ ❓
- What is Bitcoin’s current mining difficulty? Bitcoin’s mining difficulty recently increased 6.31% to 155.97 trillion, marking the third-largest jump of 2025.
- How much did bitcoin miners earn in October 2025?Miners pulled in about $1.595 billion in October, with nearly all of it coming from block subsidies.
- What’s happening to Bitcoin’s hashprice?Hashprice has fallen from around $50.66 per PH/s a month ago to roughly $44.67 today.
- Why are miners under pressure now?A tougher difficulty, weaker bitcoin prices, and low onchain fees are squeezing miner profits.
