• Bitcoin’s mining difficulty fell 11.16% to 125.86 trillion at block height 935,424.

  • This represents the biggest single negative adjustment since July 2021 following China’s mining crackdown.

  • The drop follows a roughly 20% decline in network hashrate over the past month, attributed to falling Bitcoin prices and winter storm-related shutdowns.

Bitcoin’s network has undergone its most significant mining difficulty adjustment in over four years, providing temporary relief to miners amid challenging market conditions.

The difficulty, which measures how hard it is to find a new block, dropped 11.16% to 125.86 trillion on February 7, 2026. This marks the largest downward change since China’s sweeping ban on cryptocurrency mining in July 2021, according to data from Mempool.

The adjustment comes after Bitcoin’s hashrate fell approximately 20% from its recent highs, as miners shut down unprofitable rigs due to a sharp price decline—Bitcoin is trading around $69,000, down from October peaks—and disruptions from Winter Storm Fern. Average block times had stretched to over 11 minutes before the reset.

Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Drops Bitcoin's mining difficulty fell over 11%, the largest since 2021, due to storms and high energy costs forcing miners offline.

— Cryptopress (@CryptoPress_ok) February 9, 2026

“The decrease is historic, the largest since the China ban,” said Harry Sudock, chief business officer at CleanSpark, a major Bitcoin mining company. This sentiment echoes concerns about miner profitability, with hashprice hitting all-time lows around $33 per petahash per second.

While the lower difficulty improves odds for remaining miners to earn rewards, analysts warn it may be short-lived. The next adjustment on February 20 is projected to increase by about 5.6%. Miners continue to face pressures from high energy costs and older equipment becoming uneconomical.

For context, during China’s 2021 crackdown, difficulty dropped as much as 27.9% in one adjustment as hashrate plummeted 50%. Today’s event, while significant, reflects ongoing market volatility rather than regulatory upheaval.

Bitcoin just experienced an 11.16% drop in difficulty – the largest negative adjustment since the July 2021 china mining ban crash, and the 10th largest negative % adjustment of all time. https://t.co/AVUGsv8mlB pic.twitter.com/Fauykg0d3l

— mononaut (@mononautical) February 7, 2026

A key X post from developer Mononaut highlighted this as the 10th largest negative adjustment in Bitcoin’s history: https://x.com/mononautical/status/2020137801191178398.

The event primarily affects Bitcoin (BTC), but could have ripple effects on other cryptocurrencies like Zcash (ZEC) and DAI, details available at https://cryptopress.site/coins/.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute advice of any kind. Readers should conduct their own research before making any decisions.

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