NEW: Bitcoin network difficulty jumps more than 9% to new all-time high by mpmcsweeney
According to BTC.com, which tracks mining difficulty data, the difficulty rose by 9.32%. Today's jump was the second thus far in 2022, following January 8's 0.41% adjustment.
With the exception of a 1.49% decrease on November 28, the difficulty has seen steady growth since last summer's mining crackdown in China, whichby its largest share on record as miners in that country shut down their equipment and decamped to countries like the United States and Kazakhstan. According to an analysis from The Block Research, the total bitcoin hash rate has increased by about 18 EH/s since December 11. Notably, Foundry USA -- owned by the Digital Currency Group subsidiary -- has increased by approximately 5 EH/s in that time.