Bitcoin's mining difficulty level hit an all-time high on Thursday, rising 3.4% as the network's hashrate also reached a record high. The difficulty level, which changes every two weeks, measures how hard miners have to work to verify transactions on a block.

A higher difficulty reading means it is more competitive to mine Bitcoin, reducing profitability for miners. The rise in mining difficulty is typically due to more miners going online, increasing competition and reducing the chance of securing an entire block on the chain.