Bitcoin mining difficulty rose 2% on Wednesday to hit a new all-time high in the first adjustment since last week’s halving event.

The difficulty adjustment came at block height 840,672, reaching a record of 88.1 trillion, according to Bitbo data — marking the first time Bitcoin mining difficulty has risen in the first adjustment following a halving.

In comparison, the first Bitcoin mining difficulty adjustment after the halvings in November 2020, July 2016 and May 2020 came in at -2%, 0% and -6%, respectively. The second adjustments post-halving were even more pronounced at -12%, -5% and -9%, respectively. This happened in the past as the reduction in block subsidy rewards caused miner profitability to decline sharply as less efficient or financially prepared miners shut off their …