July’s Bitcoin Mining Landscape: Top Pools Capture 65.65% of Global Hashrate
In July 2023, the Bitcoin hashrate reached 386.89 exahash per second (EH/s), with an average of 377.7 EH/s. There were two difficulty adjustments during the month, increasing by 6.45% on July 11 and decreasing by 2.94% on July 26. The current difficulty level is 52.33 trillion until around August 9.
- Bitcoin miners earned $844.56 million in July, with $18.81 million coming from fees alone.
- Foundry USA led the way with 1,266 blocks mined, capturing 29% of the global hashrate.
- Antpool discovered 992 blocks, and F2pool accounted for 608 blocks.
- Foundry, Antpool, and F2pool controlled 65.65% of the global hashrate in the last 30 days.
- In January 2023, Foundry, Antpool, and F2pool also dominated the hashrate, with a 66.05% share.
In September 2016, the mining landscape was less consolidated, with F2pool, Antpool, and BTCC capturing only 45.49% of the total hashrate.
Hot Take
The concentration of mining power in a few dominant pools is a recurring trend in Bitcoin mining. While it provides efficiency and stability, it also raises concerns about centralization and potential control over the network. As Bitcoin continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how mining decentralization efforts and emerging technologies impact the distribution of hashrate among different pools.