The Bitcoin hash rate climbed to its highest level since October 2018 as the BTC spot price looks to break $5,800. Data shows the Bitcoin hash rate – the computing power responsible for securing the network, at above 58 quintillion hashes per second (58 million tera hashes per second – TH/s). This is the 4th highest ever hash rate recorded on the Bitcoin network. The increase in hash rate points to more mining nodes being active on the network. With more mining nodes, comes greater security for the Bitcoin network making it more difficult for attack vectors to succeed in compromising the fidelity of the blockchain.

Rising hash rate tends to come with increasing mining difficulty – the hash power required to discover a new block. Difficulty acts as a counterbalancing parameter on the network, adding another layer of security. With numerous analyses putting Bitcoin mining cost between $3,500 and $4,000, the continued upward price trajectory means increasing profits for miners. Thus, it is unsurprising to see more mining nodes coming online as BTC may be gearing up for another parabolic growth cycle.