Bitcoin miner revenue fell by 9.44%, and difficulty rose to 136.61T

The bitcoin mining difficulty was adjusted on May 15 at block height 949,536, rising from 132.47T by 3.12% to 136.61T, the first increase in over a month (two complete epochs). According to HashrateIndex data, the estimated value per PH/s per day fell 9.44% from $38.97 on May 14 to $35.29 within four days.

Confirmation data for the difficulty adjustment

（Source: HashrateIndex）

Confirmed via public blockchain data:

Increase magnitude: +3.12%

New difficulty value: 136.61T (trillion)

Difficulty in the previous epoch: 132.47T

Adjustment-triggering block: Block height 949,536

Historical standing: The 4th difficulty increase of 2026; the third-largest increase this year. The first increase in over a month (two complete epochs)

Confirmation data for hashrate price and miner revenue

Confirmed using data from hashrateindex.com:

Hashrate price on May 14: $38.97 per PH/s per day

Hashrate price on May 18: $35.29 per PH/s per day

Drop over four days: 9.44%

Bitcoin price (May 14 intraday high point): above $82,000

Bitcoin price (May 18 at 3:00 PM ET): $76,680

Confirmation data for hashrate and transaction fees

Confirmed via public data:

Network hashrate (May 11): briefly exceeded 1,000 EH/s (i.e., 1 ZH/s)

Network hashrate (May 18 at 3:30 PM ET): 959.03 EH/s

Transaction fees: Over the past 24 hours, fees accounted for 0.59% of the total block reward

Average block time: about 10 minutes and 12 seconds (slightly above the 10-minute target)

Projected confirmation for the next difficulty adjustment

Based on real-time data at the time of the report, the next difficulty adjustment is expected around May 29, and current data indicates difficulty may decline. However, Bitcoin.com News stated clearly that as of the time of the report, there are 1,576 blocks remaining to be mined, and related forecasts could change significantly before then.

FAQ

What is the hashrate price, and how does it measure miner earnings?

Hashrate price represents the estimated daily revenue from each unit of hashrate (here, per PH/s). It is one of the core metrics for measuring bitcoin mining profitability. A fall in hashrate price means that the same hashrate produces less revenue, reflecting the combined impact of an increase in mining difficulty and/or a decline in the bitcoin price.

How does this difficulty increase rank across all of 2026?

This 3.12% difficulty increase is the 4th difficulty increase in 2026 and also the third-largest adjustment by magnitude this year. Earlier difficulty increases occurred in different adjustment periods this year.

Why is the share of bitcoin transaction fees in miner income so low?

According to Bitcoin.com News, over the past 24 hours, bitcoin transaction fees accounted for only 0.59% of the total block reward. Miner income relies almost entirely on the 3.125 BTC block subsidy per block, rather than fee revenue driven by on-chain transaction activity.