Bitcoin Hash Rate Passes Record 150 Quintillion as Price Reclaims $9K

Bitcoin (BTC) miners have set a fresh all-time high in terms of computing power they are willing to dedicate to validating transactions.

Cryptocurrency market daily overview. Source: Coin360

Pomp: Hash rate shows BTC “doesn’t care about anything”

According to data from monitoring resource Coin Dance on March 5, the Bitcoin network hash rate may have passed 150 quintillion hashes per second (h/s) for the first time ever.

Coming just days after its previous record, the hash rate has continued to grow. On Thursday, the metric hit 157 quintillion h/s — its best performance in history.

Hash rate is key to ensuring the security of the Bitcoin network, and also acts as an indication of its profitability for miners who validate the blockchain. In recent times, Bitcoin has exhibited consistent records in this respect, regardless of whether its price has been rising or falling.

Bitcoin hash rate 15-month chart. Source: Coin Dance

Despite a 12% price drop last week, miners appeared completely unfazed, something which commentators in the space were quick to celebrate.

“This has happened in the face of a potential pandemic, absolute chaos in the public markets, and helicopter money being distributed in Hong Kong,” Morgan Creek Digital co-founder, Anthony Pompliano (known as Pomp in crypto circles), tweeted after hash rate hit 136 quintillion h/s. 

“Bitcoin doesn't care about anything other than doing what it was built to do.”

Hash rate calculations are at best estimates, and significant movements up or down should not be taken as an indication of exact miner participation. 

Setting the stage for price (again)

Others, notably RT host Max Keiser, previously noted that hash rate achievements tend to come in advance of copycat moves in price. 

A return below $9,000 has failed to dent the confidence of many Bitcoin supporters engaged in technical analysis of the largest cryptocurrency. Among them is statistician Willy Woo, who this week delivered a $135,000 price target for BTC/USD.

Set to appear at some point during its current bull cycle, Woo described such levels as a “common-sense prediction.”

Bitcoin 1-day price chart. Source: Coin360

BTC/USD reentered the $9,000 zone on Thursday after trading lower for more than a week. Daily gains totaled 3.2% at press time.