Bitcoin Price Dips as Hashrate Hits Record 1 Zetahash Milestone

The Bitcoin network hashrate crossed 1 Zetahash per second (ZH/s) for the first time in its history, based on data from multiple tracking platforms. Mempool.space recorded the peak, reporting a hashrate of 1.025 ZH/s. 

Meanwhile, BTC Frame noted a slightly earlier peak at 1.02 ZH/s on April 4. Coinwarz reported the hashrate reached 1.1 ZH/s at block height 890,915 on April 4 and also showed the first 1 ZH/s milestone was reached on March 24.

The differences in reported figures come from how each platform calculates hashrate. These variations depend on block time measurements, difficulty adjustments, and which mining pools or Bitcoin nodes are used for data. Some analysts point out that using a single trailing block instead of five can shift the reading by more than 0.04 ZH/s.

The 30-day average hashrate is holding steady near 0.845 zettahashes per second (ZH/s). Mitchell Askew, lead analyst at Blockware Solutions, noted that relying solely on raw hashrate figures can be misleading, as short-term fluctuations in block times often distort the true picture.

Higher Network Power Amid Price Drop

Despite a new peak in its hashrate, Bitcoin’s price has fallen. At press time, Bitcoin was trading at $77,156 and is down 7.7% over the last 24 hours, and 5.53% over the last seven days. 

Bitcoin price falls as U.S. stock markets fall sharply, with an estimated $6.6 trillion wiped off the value on April 3 and 4. Analysts say that recent tariff policy announcements by the President Donald Trump played a key role in the decline. Investors throughout the traditional and crypto markets are increasingly concerned about recession.

Mining Firms Scale Up Operations

Growing competition among mining companies is the reason for the recent spike in hashrate. Askew commented that “miners are doubling down: expanding sites and plugging in more efficient machines.” Yet he also said some older equipment could be unprofitable if prices stay down.

MARA Holdings comes in with over 50 EH/s of compute power. Riot Platforms, Core Scientific, CleanSpark, Hut 8 Mining and TeraWulf are also other major players. According to data, Foundry USA Pool and AntPool are currently the biggest mining pools of the entire global hashrate.

At present, 24 publicly listed companies have active Bitcoin mining operations, according to CompaniesMarketCap.com. This has contributed to increased decentralization and computational strength across the network.

Litecoin and Other Networks Lag Far Behind

While Bitcoin achieved a new all-time high in hashrate, other proof-of-work blockchains remain far behind. Litecoin, the second-largest network by this metric, records a hashrate of 2.49 Petahashes per second. This makes Bitcoin nearly 40,000 times more powerful in comparison.

The rise to 1 ZH/s represents a 1,000x increase since January 2016, when the Bitcoin network first reached 1 Exahash per second. Despite fluctuations in price, mining power continues to grow as firms invest in advanced technology and infrastructure.