2026 Difficulty Thread

[joker_josue]

the difficulty pattern since Nov last year is a low dip in general
we will see what it does in two weeks

Well, this usually happens whenever there are price drops.
Some are starting to shut down the least productive machines, others are reducing their operations or taking the opportunity to refurbish equipment.

Or am I mistaken in this analysis?

[philipma1957]

the difficulty pattern since Nov last year is a low dip in general
we will see what it does in two weeks

Well, this usually happens whenever there are price drops.
Some are starting to shut down the least productive machines, others are reducing their operations or taking the opportunity to refurbish equipment.

Or am I mistaken in this analysis?

What we don't know is how fast can we get back to 155t  peak. SINCE we don't know how much power is being leased to ai.

Ie: we spike to 130k or 140k price fast can the miners get gear on line fast or are they short power due to it now running ai.
 ____________________________________
--------------------------------------------------------
We are sliding along despite a large drop in price 82k to 76k

https://newhedge.io/bitcoin/difficulty-estimator

Latest Block:   949956  (a few seconds ago)

Current Pace:   98.6273%  (421 / 426.86 expected, 5.86 behind)

Previous Difficulty:   132472011079030.5                            
Current Difficulty:   136607070854775.1                            
Next Difficulty:   between 134886211155748 and 135958269028845
Next Difficulty Change:   between -1.2597% and -0.4749%
Previous Retarget:   last Friday at 11:56 AM  (+3.1215%)
Next Retarget (earliest):   May 29, 2026 at 1:41 PM  (in 11d 2h 36m 21s)
Next Retarget (latest):   May 29, 2026 at 4:37 PM  (in 11d 5h 31m 59s)
Projected Epoch Length:   between 14d 1h 44m 57s and 14d 4h 40m 34s

[alh]

My simplistic view is that AI is the sexy new "tech thing" and has huge amounts of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) associated with it. The impact on silicon based gear (RAM, GPU, etc) will spur an equally insane amount of infrastructure build and ultimately electricity use.

Bitcoin had that same kind of FOMO, but has been replaced (for now).

[Nexus9090]

My simplistic view is that AI is the sexy new "tech thing" and has huge amounts of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) associated with it. The impact on silicon based gear (RAM, GPU, etc) will spur an equally insane amount of infrastructure build and ultimately electricity use.

Bitcoin had that same kind of FOMO, but has been replaced (for now).

With BTC the FOMO was real and I did miss out. I wish i'd paid more attention to it in the early days.

With AI, I just can't wait for the bubble to burst and I'll be grabbing the popcorn when it does. I think its over-hyped overplayed and generally a travesty in the making.

Sure it can do some impressive things in terms of image, video and audio editing and acts well in some instances as a search assistant but otherwise its not something I will ever want to use I'd prefer not to have it interfering with my daily routines and guzzling my personal data without consent to be honest.

[philipma1957]

My simplistic view is that AI is the sexy new "tech thing" and has huge amounts of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) associated with it. The impact on silicon based gear (RAM, GPU, etc) will spur an equally insane amount of infrastructure build and ultimately electricity use.

Bitcoin had that same kind of FOMO, but has been replaced (for now).

With BTC the FOMO was real and I did miss out. I wish i'd paid more attention to it in the early days.

With AI, I just can't wait for the bubble to burst and I'll be grabbing the popcorn when it does. I think its over-hyped overplayed and generally a travesty in the making.

Sure it can do some impressive things in terms of image, video and audio editing and acts well in some instances as a search assistant but otherwise its not something I will ever want to use I'd prefer not to have it interfering with my daily routines and guzzling my personal data without consent to be honest.

AI seems to be a train wreck we are watching and will see it happen soon.

[Nexus9090]

My simplistic view is that AI is the sexy new "tech thing" and has huge amounts of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) associated with it. The impact on silicon based gear (RAM, GPU, etc) will spur an equally insane amount of infrastructure build and ultimately electricity use.

Bitcoin had that same kind of FOMO, but has been replaced (for now).

With BTC the FOMO was real and I did miss out. I wish i'd paid more attention to it in the early days.

With AI, I just can't wait for the bubble to burst and I'll be grabbing the popcorn when it does. I think its over-hyped overplayed and generally a travesty in the making.

Sure it can do some impressive things in terms of image, video and audio editing and acts well in some instances as a search assistant but otherwise its not something I will ever want to use I'd prefer not to have it interfering with my daily routines and guzzling my personal data without consent to be honest.

AI seems to be a train wreck we are watching and will see it happen soon.

Indeed it is, I can't see this lasting much past the end of 2029 by which time the overall "life improvements" it offers and features will start to become clear.

I think everyone is going to be sorely disappointed. It will not solve all of humanities issues, it'll likely compound a lot as governments try to use it to "make life better" only to find out that its a total disaster.

As for the implications on the jobs market, as employers switch to AI to solve all their administrative ills the jobs market will collapse under its own stupidity along with the idiot companies trying to use it to replace people.