The computational power of the Bitcoin network surpassed 1 Zetahash per second between April 4 and 5.
The Bitcoin network has just reached a historic milestone in its 16-year existence: its hashrate (computing power) has surpassed 1 Zetahash per second (ZH/s).
According to several trackers monitoring the network’s computing power, this result was recorded between April 4 and 5. Data from mempool.space shows a peak hashrate of 1.025 ZH/s on April 5, while BTC Frame reported the 1.02 ZH/s threshold was already reached the previous day. Coinwarz data showed a peak of 1.1 ZH/s on April 4 at block 890,915.
Hashrate data variations
The discrepancies between different trackers are due to the various methodologies used to calculate the network’s hashrate. These approaches differ based on when block times and difficulty adjustments are measured, which Bitcoin nodes and mining pools are used to extract the data, and other technical factors.
Casa’s CSO Jameson Lopp previously noted that estimating hashrate using only one trailing block instead of five can result in a difference of over 0.04 ZH/s.
The Zetahash milestone
Despite the data differences, Bitcoin’s climb to 1 ZH/s — equal to 1,000 Exahash per second — marks a 1,000x increase since late January 2016, when the network first hit 1 EH/s. To put things in perspective, Litecoin, the second-largest proof-of-work network, currently has a hashrate of 2.49 PH/s according to Coinwarz — making it roughly 40,000 times less powerful than Bitcoin in terms of computational strength.
MARA Holdings is currently the largest bitcoin miner with over 50 EH/s of computing power, while the majority of the total hashrate is channeled through Foundry USA and AntPool, according to the Hashrate Index.
At least 24 publicly listed companies are involved in the Bitcoin mining industry, according to CompaniesMarketCap.com. Other major contributors to the hashrate include Riot Platforms, Core Scientific, CleanSpark, Hut 8 Mining, and TeraWulf.
