Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Dips 0.03% After Strong September

Published October 5, 2026, 04:36 UTC. Network estimates as read on October 4, 2026.

Bitcoin's mining difficulty edged down 0.03% on Saturday, October 3, to about 132.72 trillion. The adjustment took place at block 969,696 at 07:16 UTC, TokenPost reported, with estimated network hashrate at 986.07 exahashes per second (EH/s).

What difficulty does

Difficulty is the automatic setting that keeps new Bitcoin blocks arriving about every ten minutes. Every 2,016 blocks, roughly two weeks, the network compares how fast blocks actually came in with that target. If they came too quickly, difficulty rises. If too slowly, it falls. For miners, a rise works like a pay cut and a fall like a pay rise, as Firsthand Bitcoin puts it.

The October 3 move followed a 4.16% increase on September 19, according to Firsthand Bitcoin, and was the smallest change of 2026, according to Bitcoin.com News. The year has now seen 19 adjustments: eight increases totaling 33.34% and 11 decreases totaling 45.30%. That leaves difficulty down a net 11.96% since January 1.

Miners' best month since January

Lower competition and a firmer Bitcoin price have helped miners' income. Miners earned $1.12 billion in September, the best month since January's $1.15 billion, Bitcoin.com News reported, citing Newhedge data. Hashprice, the value of the daily output of one petahash per second of computing power, reached a 30-day high of $41.51 and hovered around $40 for most of the month.

The improvement comes after a difficult stretch. Difficulty swung sharply earlier in the year, including a 10.09% drop on June 14 and a 7.15% rise on June 27, according to Firsthand Bitcoin's list of recent adjustments.

The next adjustment: October 18

Early estimates point to a larger cut at the next retarget, expected around October 18 at block 971,712. As read on October 4, Firsthand Bitcoin estimated a 6.76% decrease, based on the pace of blocks so far in the period. Bitcoin.com News said blocks were arriving every 10 minutes and 48 seconds on average, slower than the ten-minute target.

These estimates are based on only a small share of the period, about 6% of it according to Firsthand Bitcoin, so they can change a lot over the next two weeks.

Why it matters

Difficulty and hashprice shape the economics of every miner, including the listed companies that are moving into AI data centers. Those stocks had a poor week despite better mining conditions, as rising bond yields hit companies that borrow heavily. Our miner stocks report has the details.

This article is news reporting and is not investment advice.

Sources

• TokenPost, Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Slips 0.03% After September Increase (Oct. 3, 2026)
• Bitcoin.com News, Bitcoin Miners Bank Strong September as Difficulty Barely Budges (Oct. 3, 2026)
• Firsthand Bitcoin, Next bitcoin difficulty adjustment: estimate and date, read Oct. 4, 2026

Related: Proof of Stake vs Proof of Work: How Blockchains Agree