This week Bitcoin's difficulty has been lowered by 5% to 79.5T, marking the largest decrease since the difficulty briefly fell below 80T in March. F2pool analysis suggests that only ASIC miners with a power efficiency of 26W/T or lower can be profitable when Bitcoin's price is at or above $54,000, with an estimated profit of $0.07 per kilowatt hour. It should be noted that electricity prices vary by region.

CryptoQuant founder and CEO Ki Young Ju posted on social media that Bitcoin's hash price has hit a new historic low. Many mining companies have slowed down their investment in mining machines, and some companies have turned to other PoW currencies to hedge against market uncertainty. Hash price is a term created by Bitcoin mining service company Luxor, referring to the expected value that can be generated per day with 1 PH/s or 1 TH/s of computing power. This indicator quantifies the benefits that miners can expect to receive from a specific amount of computing power.

Bitcoin mining company Stronghold Digital Mining reported a 47.1% decrease in its Bitcoin mining output in May. The company mined 82 BTC in the first full month after the halving, compared to 155 BTC mined in April. At the same time, the company's revenue for the month was $5.2 million, a 46% decrease from the previous month. Stronghold explicitly attributed this decline to the halving, stating that the main reason for the decrease was the first full month after the halving.

As the Bitcoin halving event approaches, American mining companies are constantly buying new mining machines to expand their computing power, while also dealing with their old model machines. About 6,000 old Bitcoin mining machines will soon be idle and sent to a warehouse in Colorado Springs, where they will be refurbished and resold to overseas buyers who hope to profit from mining in a low-cost environment. Since electricity is the biggest expense in Bitcoin mining, mining companies, including listed companies Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. and Riot Platforms Inc., need to reduce their usage costs to maintain positive profits. In theory, the computing power of old mining machines may still bring profits after the halving, but it is unlikely to be realized in the case of high electricity costs in the United States. According to Ethan Vera, the Chief Operating Officer of Luxor, a cryptocurrency mining service and logistics provider, about 600,000 S19 series mining machines (most of the machines currently in use) are being transferred from the United States to Africa and South America. Some buyers will wait until after the halving to purchase second-hand mining machines, as they believe that the price will drop further at that time. Data shows that in March 2022, the selling price of second-hand S19 model mining machines was about $7,030. One year later, with the decline in the price of Bitcoin, the price of second-hand S19 machines plummeted to about $900. With the upgrade of mining machines, the price of second-hand S19 has dropped to about $427 this month, and it is expected to be sold for about $356 after the halving in May. In addition, some American miners choose not to sell their hardware, but only transfer their equipment to areas with lower electricity costs and third-party data centers.

Bitcoin mining companies are increasing their computational power, known as "hashrate," by bringing new and more powerful rigs online and even plugging in older machines again. This surge in hashrate has sped up the creation of new blocks on the Bitcoin blockchain as miners seek to cash in on bullish trends in the market. The upcoming bitcoin "halving," which will reduce the block reward from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC, is expected to occur around April 15, earlier than previously anticipated. As the price of bitcoin rises, the rewards of mining it get richer, encouraging more operators to turn on their machines or ramp up their computational power.

President Joe Biden has proposed a range of taxes and regulations related to cryptocurrency that could generate almost $10 billion next year and over $42 billion over the next decade, according to his proposed 2025 budget. The proposals include an excise tax on Bitcoin mining, with any firm using computing resources to mine digital assets subject to an excise tax equal to 30% of the costs of electricity used. The proposed tax would be introduced in three phases, starting at 10% in the first year and rising to 30% in the third year. Critics of the proposals include Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis, who tweeted that a 30% tax would destroy the mining industry's presence in the US.

The difficulty of Bitcoin mining has undergone a mining difficulty adjustment at block height 832,608 on March 1. This mining difficulty adjustment lowered the difficulty by 2.9% to 79.35 T, with an average hash rate of 608.59 EH/s and an average block time of 9 minutes and 20 seconds.

The US Department of Energy has temporarily suspended its emergency survey of Bitcoin mining operators' energy usage. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) will halt its mandatory survey for over a month and keep the data that had already been secured from stakeholders in the Bitcoin mining industry earlier this February. Riot Platforms and the Texas Blockchain Council had previously sued the administration of President Joe Biden, planning to boycott the survey citing that it could cause potential harm to businesses by compelling them to release confidential and sensitive information. The plaintiffs requested a permanent injunction from the court which mandates that EIA first complies with the law before going ahead to request the data.

Bit Brother Limited recently disclosed that the company has received a delisting notice from NASDAQ, which was issued on January 30th. It plans to delist Bit Brother from NASDAQ based on the power granted by Rule 5101 of the NASDAQ Listing Rules. The reason for this decision is based on concerns arising from certain warrants with cashless exercise provisions included in Bit Brother's two registered issuances on October 25, 2023 and December 5, 2023, as well as concerns about the related public interest arising from such transactions. However, this delisting notice will not immediately affect Bit Brother Limited's listing and trading. NASDAQ has allowed it to participate in a hearing on February 27th to explain the situation. Before the hearing process is completed, NASDAQ will continue to suspend any trading or delisting actions.

Bitcoin mining has been criticized for its high power consumption, but a recent report by the New York Times highlights additional problems such as environmental pollution and human resource complications. The intense process of creating the OG cryptocurrency creates a significant amount of sound pollution that disrupts normal life and can lead to health complications. Additionally, Bitcoin mining can result in disruption to wildlife and devaluation of nearby properties. The process also generates a significant amount of e-waste and has negative impacts on human health and well-being due to long working hours and psychological problems.