Re:Former US SEC attorney: 'Get out of crypto platforms now'
by crote on Tuesday June 20, 2023 @08:16PM
(#36412631)
No, the difficulty is updated every 2016 blocks. This should be once every two weeks, but if the worldwide hash power halves it'll of course take four weeks until it can update. The difficulty adjustment is capped to +300% / -75%.
The issue here is that the Bitcoin reward has to pay for the mining cost, but there is nothing preventing the Bitcoin price from dropping lower. So miners will either have to mine at a loss for (on average) a week until a difficulty adjustment, or turn off their equipment. Turning it off will make the wait even longer and the mining price per block will increase even more for the remaining miners - leading to more of them operating at a loss or shutting down which makes the problem even worse.
The issue here is that the Bitcoin reward has to pay for the mining cost, but there is nothing preventing the Bitcoin price from dropping lower. So miners will either have to mine at a loss for (on average) a week until a difficulty adjustment, or turn off their equipment. Turning it off will make the wait even longer and the mining price per block will increase even more for the remaining miners - leading to more of them operating at a loss or shutting down which makes the problem even worse.