Further price increases expected in January due to improved block generation speeds.
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According to on-chain data, Bitcoin mining difficulty rose slightly during the recent adjustment, reaching approximately 148.2 trillion. CoinWarz projects the next difficulty adjustment will occur on January 8th of next year at block height 931,392, which could push the difficulty to approximately 149 trillion. The current average block generation time is approximately 9.95 minutes, ahead of the target of 10 minutes.
Mining difficulty approached its all-time high several times throughout 2025. Notably, there were two sharp spikes in September, and it remained high even during the Bitcoin price correction in October. Rising difficulty means miners must invest more computing resources and electricity to achieve the same reward, further increasing operating costs.
Bitcoin mining difficulty adjustments are a key mechanism for maintaining network stability and decentralization. Difficulty is adjusted approximately every 2,016 blocks and is designed to maintain a block generation rate of approximately 10 minutes on average. This prevents a situation where a specific miner or mining group can dominate the network by investing excessive computing power in a short period of time.
Experts believe that this dynamic difficulty adjustment maintains Bitcoin's supply schedule and network security while also contributing to price stability. This is because difficulty is adjusted in proportion to the total computing power deployed on the network, ensuring a consistent Bitcoin issuance rate and reward structure.
Reporter Jeong Ha-yeon yomwork8824@blockstreet.co.kr
