Bitcoin’s mining difficulty dropped about 7.7% at the March 20 adjustment, falling to roughly 133.79 trillion at block 941,472 — the largest decline since February. That marks a fall from about 145 trillion in mid‑March and roughly 148 trillion at the start of the year, reducing the computational work required to earn the same block reward and modestly improving revenue per unit of hashrate for miners that stay online.
The reduction followed slower‑than‑target block production over the previous 2,016 blocks. CloverPool data showed average block times near 12 minutes 36 seconds, well above Bitcoin’s 10‑minute target, prompting the protocol’s automatic difficulty decrease. Difficulty is adjusted every 2,016 blocks to keep issuance close to one block every 10 minutes; when aggregate hashrate falls, difficulty is lowered so remaining miners can find blocks at the intended rate. The next difficulty adjustment is currently estimated around April 3, though that projection will shift as new blocks are mined.
A similar sharp drop occurred in February after weather‑related outages temporarily took large U.S. mining facilities offline; difficulty subsequently rebounded by about 15% as hashrate returned once power conditions normalized.
The reset comes as several publicly listed miners diversify into AI and high‑performance computing to seek steadier returns on power and data‑center capacity. Industry observers have noted that AI workloads are competing with Bitcoin mining for electricity; crypto trader Ran Neuner went so far as to say, “AI has killed Bitcoin forever.” Firms including Core Scientific, MARA Holdings, Hut 8 and Cipher Mining have begun reallocating equipment or offering AI/HPC services, while some operators have reduced hashrate or powered down less efficient rigs as profitability tightens.
On Feb. 21 Bitdeer sold 943 BTC from reserves and liquidated newly mined coins, reporting corporate holdings at zero in its March 21 update. Miners’ continued equipment shifts and power economics will influence hashrate and future difficulty adjustments as the network adapts.