Bitcoin’s seven-day estimated hashrate has climbed back above 1 zettahash per second (ZH/s), or 1,000 exahashes per second, even as publicly traded miners redirect parts of their electricity and facilities toward artificial intelligence. The rebound does not mean AI conversions have stopped. An October 23 report citing BlocksBridge Consulting confirms the threshold.

Key Takeaways

• Bitcoin’s seven-day hashrate estimate is again above 1 ZH/s despite AI infrastructure conversions.
• Mining difficulty rose 5.92% to 140.58 trillion on October 16; the next retarget is only a projection.
• Higher network competition increases the importance of ASIC energy efficiency, measured in J/TH.

Difficulty Reaches 140.58 Trillion

The mempool.space mining dashboard records Bitcoin’s October 16 adjustment from 132.72 trillion to 140.58 trillion, a 5.92% increase. A separate October 23 network snapshot reported 1,055 EH/s on a three-day average and projected another increase around October 29. That projection can change; it is not a completed adjustment.

Educational explanation of how Bitcoin mining difficulty works; not a live network measurement.

AI Conversions Have Not Eliminated Competition

Bitcoin miners have been expanding into GPU hosting and AI data centers, but other operators can deploy new ASICs or bring previously idle machines online. A rebound in total hashrate does not reveal exactly which individual sites added computing power. This contrasts with our earlier reporting on the AI-driven hashrate downturn and updates the October 9 near-1 ZH/s snapshot.

Background video on ASIC mining and hashrate.

What This Means for Power Efficiency Theory

Mining is measured in hashes, but profitability depends on electricity use. For illustration, 1 ZH/s at 15 J/TH requires approximately 15 GW of ASIC electricity; at 8.9 J/TH it requires 8.9 GW. Neither number is a measured estimate of Bitcoin’s actual network load: real miners use mixed hardware and site overhead adds consumption.

BitcoinVersus.Tech has followed that efficiency question since its 2023 hashrate reporting and the 2025 Mining Singularity research. Our recent SEAL04 and 1 J/TH update remains a technology forecast, not confirmation that commercial miners have reached 1 J/TH.

BitcoinVersus.Tech’s October 22 research question about how ASIC architecture could progress toward 1 J/TH.

Versus Institute’s earlier discussion of physical compute efficiency; a research hypothesis, not proof of a commercialization date.

What to Watch Next

The next retarget, hashprice and electricity costs will influence mining profitability. For the operating mechanics, see hashrate versus difficulty and hashrate versus hashprice. More hashrate does not guarantee higher miner revenue.

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