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Bitcoin (BTC) Hashrate Breaks Above 170 Exahashes Per Sec for The First Time Ever, Prints New All-Times High

In October, all crucial metrics of miner activity are on fire in flagship blockchain. Analysts register the unprecedented spike of hashrate

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Today, Oct. 8, Glassnode's leading on-chain analytical team shared yet another rocketing metric from Bitcoin (BTC) realm. Miners of the crypto king managed to push its hashrate to a historic high.

New all-time high of Bitcoin (BTC) hashrate

Glassnode researchers noted in their recent tweet that the Bitcoin (BTC) hashrate has never been so high. Almost an hour ago it touched the unbelievable level of 170 exahashes per second on the hourly chart.

This means that the first cryptocurrency is now secured by 170 quintillion hashes. This metric depends on miner dedication, thus making it super volatile. The record values were registered on the 24-hour moving average displayed on the hourly time frames.

Glassnode experts also highlighted how rapidly this metric surges after the third decrease of Bitcoin (BTC) miner rewards in early May of this year. According to their estimations, it added about 40 percent since this remarkable event.

It was May 2020 when the hashrate dropped for the last time. In late Q2 and Q3, it demonstrated confident growth despite Bitcoin's (BTC) price spending this period without leaving the boring flats.

Not only Bitcoin (BTC)

Two days ago, Ethereum (ETH) also set a new hashrate record. Glassnode reported that it surpassed 250 trillion hashes for the first time.

However, Ethereum (ETH) community enthusiasts slammed the assumption that the Bitcoin (BTC) hashrate should be treated as a reliable metric of network security.

Anonymous Ethereum developer Latetot, creator of the Ethereum Gas Station service, attributed this upsurge to the technical characteristics of mining gear:

No - this doesn't mean higher security and just reflects technical advance in asic design. The only security metric that is relevant is USD value of block rewards which are still lower than pre - halvening. Bitcoin is getting cheaper to attack.

It should be noted that, in January, the Bitcoin (BTC) hashrate barely surpassed the 120 EH/s level.

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Vladislav Sopov

Blockchain Analyst & Writer with scientific background. 5+ years in IT-analytics, 2+ years in blockchain.

Worked in independent analysis as well as in start-ups (Swap.online, Monoreto, Attic Lab etc.)