The Bitcoin network's mining difficulty recorded an increase to 148.2 trillion during its latest adjustment in 2025. This rise marks a continuation of the trend promoting decentralization within the network, though it poses challenges for miners who must invest more resources to stay competitive.
According to estimates from CoinWarz, the next adjustment is anticipated on January 8, 2026, where the difficulty is expected to reach 149 trillion. Current average block times are approximately 9.95 minutes, slightly under the target of ten minutes, indicating that further increases in difficulty might be necessary.
Historically, the mining difficulty faced significant spikes in September 2025 amid Bitcoin's price uptrend, followed by a crash in October. The adjustments occur roughly every two weeks, or after 2016 blocks, to stabilize block generation rates and safeguard against monopolization by any single miner or group.