hodler

21 Mar 2026, 15:46

Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Drops 7.76% in Major 2026 Decline

Bitcoin mining difficulty adjusted to 133.79T, a drop of 7.76%.

21 Mar 2026, 13:32

Why I Just Became Even More Bullish On The Canton Network

Summary The article analyzes the Canton Network and its CIP-0105 update, which incentivizes Super Validators to lock rewards, aligning interests with long-term network success. CIP-0105 could result in 20–32% of Canton Coin supply being locked over the long run, reducing circulating supply and disincentivizing opportunistic selling. Major financial institutions like Nasdaq, DTCC, and others serve as Super Validators, signaling strong institutional adoption and potential for network effects. Despite execution and competitive risks, Canton Network generates higher fees than Ethereum/Solana and dominates tokenized asset value, potentially positioning it as a leading financial settlement layer. Introduction Blockchains like Ethereum and Solona, among others, allow for something called staking. Owners of ETH or SOL can “stake” their tokens, effectively locking up their tokens, as a means of creating stability for the network. In return, the owners of staked coins receive a yield in the form of the native token. To unstake tokens, the owners may need to wait a few days to over a week. From a tokenomics perspective, the yield incentivizes investors to buy the tokens as a productive asset and the locking mechanism reduces the supply available to be sold on the open market. The idea is that it creates buyer demand and reduces selling. The ability to stake tokens is glaringly absent from the Canton Network and frankly, I love that it is. Instead of paying out Canton Coin to those that simply buy and stake the coin, all Canton Coin rewards go to those that add value to the network either in the form of building applications or validating transactions. This incentivizes long term value creation on the network rather than speculating on the token. I believe this is hands down a better long-term incentive structure for how rewards should be paid out but this does not address the other benefit to staking which is that it slows the ability to sell. However, the Canton Networks has now taken steps to address this gap with CIP-0105 . This approved proposal created a rewards structure that incentivizes the Super Validators on the network to lockup a significant percentage of their past and future Super Validator rewards. While this change did not result in an immediate increase in the price of the coin, I do believe it makes the coin more valuable in the long run. (Note: This article is largely focused on the CIP-0105 update with little background on the overall network. If you want to gain a deeper understanding of the Canton Network, including some of the risks associated with the Canton Coin, I recommend checking out my previous Seeking Alpha article on the Canton Network which provides a deeper dive into how the network operates) CIP-0105: Super Validator Locking & Long-Term Commitment Framework The key parts of the proposal are fairly straight forward. Super Validators must now lock up a percentage of their past and future Super Validator rewards in order to continue to receive rewards going forward. Participation is voluntary, but if the Super Validator elects not to participate, they will no longer receive rewards. The proposal creates three tiers of reward levels laying out what the Super Validators must lock in order to receive 40%, 60% or 100% of their potential Canton Coin rewards for validating transactions. Here’s the breakdown: Canton Foundation As you can see, over the long term this creates an incentive structure where between 35% and 55% of all Super Validator rewards may be locked. If a Super Validator determines that they want to unlock a certain amount of Canton Coin, they can initiate the unlock request at any time but only 1/365.2 of the requested amount will become liquid per day, meaning it will take one year to unlock the full request. This structure aligns Super Validators with the long-term success of the network and reduces the incentive for opportunistic or panic based selling. Impact on The Available Supply of Canton Coin Canton Coin White Paper The chart above shows the minting curve and reward allocation for Canton Coin. As you can see, by year ten (we are currently in year two ) 100 billion coins will have been minted in total and 35 billion of those will go to Super Validators. Based on CIP-0105, we can estimate that somewhere between 35-55% of those coins may be locked. For simplicity’s sake, let’s take the average between the two and say that 45% of the coins will be locked meaning roughly 16 billion Canton Coin will be locked by year ten. To assess the significance of this, we need to develop an understanding of how many Canton Coins will actually be in existence at year ten. The network burns Canton Coin as part of each transaction on the network. To date, roughly 2.56 billion Canton Coins have been burned which is close to 6% of the total minted supply. If the 6% rate remains constant, by year ten there will be roughly 94 billion Canton Coin in existence. However, the network is currently well outpacing that rate. It is currently burning between 8 and 18 million coins per day while it mints a little over 27 million new coins per day. This means it is currently burning the equivalent of 30-65% of new supply. Over the next eight years, there are roughly 60 billion coins left to be minted before the network stabilizes at minting 2.5 billion coins per year. If the network continues to burn the equivalent of somewhere close to 50% of the new coin supply, this means the network will only add around 30 billion coins over the next 8 years bringing the total supply closer to 70 billion. I don’t know which of these scenarios will play out so let’s take the average between the two and estimate that eight years from now there will be roughly 83 million Canton Coins in circulation. If 16 billion of those coins are locked, it effectively removes 20% of the supply from circulation. However, if the burn rate ends up remaining closer to 65% of new supply and Super Validators generally elect to lock 55% of their rewards, we could see upwards of 32% of the total supply locked. For comparative context, roughly 30% of ETH are currently staked. Why This Matters Obviously, from a tokenomics perspective this decreases the available supply of Canton Coin that could be sold at any given time, and it disincentivizes Supver Validators from panic selling their unlocked supply. But it’s more than that. There are over 40 Super Validators on the Canton Network and CIP-0105 effectively turns each one of them into long term holders of the Canton Coin. The Super Validators are not all just random crypto companies you’ve never heard of. The list of Super Validators includes Nasdaq, Broadridge, Chainlink, Tradeweb, Circle Internet Group, and the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation . When it comes to the DTCC alone, we are talking about the highest processor of financial value in the world as they provide custody for over 100 trillion dollars worth of assets. What is key to understand here is that the DTCC is user-owned and directed, meaning their decision to utilize Canton was driven by some form of consensus within the financial community. The Board of Directors at the DTCC has representation from NYSE, JP Morgan, UBS, Citibank, Morgan Stanley, BNY, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of America. This to me looks like bottom-up consensus followed by top-down implementation. If adoption of the Canton Network continues, the network effects will really be incredible to see. Additionally, I think this increases the chances that Canton Coin will one day be accepted as collateral and that holders of the coin will be able to earn a yield by lending it out. This allows companies holding Canton Coin to maximize the use of their balance sheet. Furthermore (caution: I’d imagine this idea will really drive some Bitcoin maxis up a wall), I think this increases the chances that Canton Coin achieves store of value status. To be clear, we have miles to go before that is achieved and that statement is highly speculative. There is nothing in the Canton White Papers indicating that the aim is to achieve store of value status. The focus is utility. However, the Ethereum Foundation is not shy about the fact that they want to position ETH as a store of value . One of the key features that allows for ETH to potentially become a store of value is staking. With CIP-0105, the Canton Network just took a step in that direction. Conclusion The risks with the Canton Network are still numerous. In my opinion, execution risk and the competitive landscape are the top among them. Competition is fierce. There are dozens of other L1 chains looking to gain adoption as a financial settlement layer. While the trend of blockchain adoption is obvious, the winning horse will only appear obvious in hindsight. When it comes to execution, Canton has gone through years of private testing, but it still needs to prove itself at scale. Despite the risks, there is a lot to like about the network. It is generating fees that are orders of magnitude higher than chains like Ethereum and Solana, yet trades at a network value that is a fraction of where Ethereum and Solana trade. According to data on RWA.xyz , roughly 90% of the total value of tokenized assets (not including stable coins) resides on the Canton Network. Daily transactions on the network have grown from roughly 50 thousand one year ago to over one million. If the Canton Network does earn a place as a key settlement layer for the financial system, it will have been very obvious in hindsight because all of the signs are there now. The CIP-0105 update is just one more feather in the Canton Network's cap to make it even more competitive in relation to other blockchains.

21 Mar 2026, 11:58

Bitcoin mining difficulty falls 7.7% as miner pressure persists

Bitcoin’s mining difficulty just logged its second sizeable cut of 2026, easing conditions for remaining miners as competition from artificial intelligence data centers rises.

21 Mar 2026, 09:30

Binance Slashes VIP Entry Thresholds to Support Global Growth

Binance has revamped its VIP Program to make elite benefits more accessible, introducing the Rising Star tier and significantly lowering entry thresholds. Lower BNB and Trading Requirements In a move to reward its growing user base, Binance has announced a comprehensive overhaul of its VIP Program. By significantly lowering entry thresholds and introducing a new

21 Mar 2026, 09:01

BitFuFu defies Bitcoin value loss as cloud mining revenue increases in 2025 results

BitFuFu reported $475.8 million in 2025 revenue (+2.7%) but posted a net loss of $57.4 million. Cloud mining now accounts for 73.7% of revenue, with nearly 676,000 users and stable retention. Despite profitability pressure, the company maintained a stable balance sheet with approximately $177M in assets. Nasdaq-listed BitFuFu Inc, the Singapore-based Bitcoin miner and cloud mining platform, reported a 2.7% increase in total revenue to $475.8 million and a net loss of $57.4 million in the release of the unaudited version of its financial results for 2025. According to the published document, BitFuFu grew its mining platform, expanded its total hashrate capacity, and recorded a bump in revenue. The company stated that the moves it made in 2025 were a deliberate and disciplined structural transformation designed to build resilience against one of the toughest years the industry has faced since the 2024 halving. Since the April 2024 halving reduced the Bitcoin block reward to 3.125 BTC, the economics of proof-of-work mining have deteriorated across the sector. Hashprice, the daily revenue earned per unit of computing power, has fallen considerably while network difficulty has also risen to successive all-time highs. It is under these conditions that BitFuFu has been able to grow its revenues and hold its treasury balance steady, which is not the standard among its contemporaries. Why did BitFuFu report losses despite rising revenue? The main reason BitFuFu recorded a net loss was because of the $32.8 million fair-value loss on its Bitcoin holdings and digital asset receivables. Most of these value hemorrhage occurred in the fourth quarter as Bitcoin’s price retreated from its October peak of above $126,000 to around $91,000 by late November, a decline of about 28%. The platform recorded $75.6 million in fair-value gain in 2024, when Bitcoin’s appreciation through the year flattered the income statement. Equipment impairments related to unfavorable market conditions compounded the pain. Adjusted EBITDA fell to $8.3 million from $117.9 million the year before. The average cost to produce one Bitcoin from BitFuFu’s self-mining operations climbed to $77,573 in 2025, up from $47,496 in 2024, driven by a 52.1% decline in Bitcoin daily earnings per terahash and an industry-wide surge in network difficulty. In all these, the company’s balance sheet, however, held firm as its combined cash and digital assets remained relatively flat at $177.1 million at year-end, compared with $175.1 million twelve months earlier. BitFuFu turns cloud mining into revenue machine Cloud Mining Solutions, in which customers purchase access to managed hashrate rather than operating their own hardware, generated $350.6 million in 2025, up 29.4% year-on-year and equivalent to 73.7% of total revenue, compared with 58.5% in 2024. Registered users on the cloud platform rose 14.2% to 675,765, and the company recorded a net dollar retention rate of 100%. Cloud Mining Solutions’ total mining capacity under management rose 11.1% to 26.1 exahashes per second despite a contraction in hosting capacity to 478 MW from 551 MW. Equipment sales also made up for a healthy chunk of cash inflow. The firm sold mining equipment worth about $53.7 million in 2025, a healthy increase from the $30.5 million it reported in 2024. Those numbers also accounted for slower demand by year-end compared to the first three quarters. “We continued to scale our cloud-mining platform, growing Cloud Mining Solutions revenue to $350.6 million and expanding total mining capacity under management to 26.1 EH/s,” said Leo Lu, chairman and CEO , adding that the company had “maintained rigorous operational discipline throughout 2025.” The CEO added that they ended the year with $177.1 million of combined cash and digital assets and built a solid foundation to navigate the current weaker market conditions.

21 Mar 2026, 08:15

Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Plummets 7.7%: A Critical Network Adjustment Unfolds

BitcoinWorld Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Plummets 7.7%: A Critical Network Adjustment Unfolds In a significant network event, Bitcoin mining difficulty has plummeted by 7.76%, settling at 133.79 trillion. This adjustment, recorded on-chain, represents the second-largest decrease witnessed in 2025. Consequently, the Bitcoin blockchain has recalibrated the computational effort required to mine new blocks. This development provides a crucial real-time signal about the state of the global mining ecosystem. Network analysts and participants are now closely examining the underlying causes and potential ramifications. Understanding the Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Drop The Bitcoin network automatically adjusts its mining difficulty approximately every two weeks. This mechanism ensures a consistent block production time of around ten minutes. The recent 7.76% downward adjustment to 133.79T directly correlates with a preceding decline in the network’s total hash rate. Essentially, when collective mining power leaves the network, the protocol lowers difficulty to maintain equilibrium. This specific drop ranks as the most substantial since a similar event earlier this year. Historical data shows such significant decreases often follow major market shifts or operational challenges for miners. For context, mining difficulty quantifies the number of hashes required to find a valid block. A higher number indicates more competition and computational work. Conversely, a lower number signifies reduced competition. The adjustment algorithm compares the time taken to mine the last 2,016 blocks against the target two-week period. Therefore, this recent change reflects mining activity from the preceding fortnight. Analysts point to several potential catalysts for the hash rate decline. Potential Catalysts and Market Context Several verifiable factors can influence global hash rate. Firstly, fluctuations in Bitcoin’s market price directly impact miner profitability. When revenue falls below operational costs, less efficient hardware becomes unprofitable and is switched off. Secondly, seasonal energy changes, particularly in regions like Sichuan, China, affect hydro-powered mining operations. Thirdly, regulatory developments or grid instability in major mining hubs can force temporary shutdowns. Finally, the natural cycle of hardware obsolescence plays a constant role. Older ASIC models are regularly retired as newer, more efficient models enter the market. A comparative analysis of recent difficulty adjustments reveals a telling pattern: Adjustment Date Difficulty Change New Difficulty Early 2025 -X.XX% (Largest Drop) ~XXX.XX T Current (2025) -7.76% 133.79 T Previous Period Minor Increase/Decrease ~145.00 T Immediate Impacts on the Mining Ecosystem The immediate effect of a lower difficulty is increased profitability for remaining miners. With the same computational power, they can now solve blocks more frequently. This dynamic creates a strong incentive for efficient operations to continue or even expand. Furthermore, it can temporarily improve the profit margins for miners using older hardware. The adjustment essentially rebalances the economic playing field. However, this is a transient advantage if the underlying market conditions do not improve. Key impacts include: Improved Hash Price: Miners earn more per unit of hash power expended. Network Security Recalibration: The security budget adjusts to current participation levels. Operational Decisions: Mining firms may reconsider plans to idle machines. Simultaneously, the event signals a potential shake-out of less competitive mining operations. This is a normal and healthy function of a decentralized, market-driven network. The protocol’s design inherently promotes efficiency and resilience through these automated adjustments. Long-Term Network Health and Security Implications From a security perspective, a temporary drop in hash rate and difficulty does not inherently compromise the Bitcoin network. The protocol’s security is robust against significant hash power fluctuations. The self-correcting difficulty algorithm is a core feature designed for long-term stability. Nevertheless, sustained periods of low hash rate could theoretically increase vulnerability to certain attacks. Yet, the economic costs of such attacks remain prohibitively high relative to potential rewards. The network has demonstrated resilience through far larger hash rate migrations in its history. Expert Analysis and Historical Precedent Industry analysts often view significant difficulty drops as natural pressure-release valves. They prevent the network from becoming unsustainable during periods of stress. Historically, similar adjustments have preceded periods of hash rate recovery and consolidation. The event provides a clear data point for evaluating the mining industry’s health. It separates operators with robust, low-cost energy contracts from those operating on marginal economics. This cyclical process ultimately strengthens the network by fostering a more efficient and geographically diverse mining base. Conclusion The 7.76% Bitcoin mining difficulty drop to 133.79T is a significant algorithmic event with clear causes and effects. It underscores the dynamic and self-regulating nature of the Bitcoin protocol. This adjustment immediately benefits active miners and provides a snapshot of current industry pressures. While notable, this change fits within the historical pattern of network ebb and flow. The Bitcoin mining difficulty mechanism continues to perform its intended function: maintaining block time stability regardless of participant count. Observers will now monitor the next adjustment period to gauge whether this trend continues or stabilizes. FAQs Q1: What does Bitcoin mining difficulty mean? Mining difficulty is a measure of how hard it is to find a new block on the Bitcoin blockchain. The network adjusts it periodically to keep the average time between blocks at ten minutes. Q2: Why did the difficulty drop by 7.76%? The difficulty dropped because the total computational power (hash rate) securing the network decreased in the previous two-week period. The protocol lowers difficulty when hash rate falls to maintain the target block time. Q3: Is a lower mining difficulty good or bad for Bitcoin? It is a neutral, automated function. It is “good” for remaining miners as it increases their chance of earning rewards. It reflects current network participation but does not inherently indicate a long-term problem for Bitcoin’s security or value. Q4: How does this affect transaction fees and confirmation times? A lower difficulty does not directly increase fees or slow confirmations. Block times should remain near ten minutes. Transaction fee market is driven by network congestion and mempool size, not directly by difficulty. Q5: Could the difficulty drop again in the next adjustment? Yes, if the average hash rate remains at or below its current level through the next 2,016-block period, the algorithm will trigger another downward adjustment. The direction depends entirely on real-time mining activity. This post Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Plummets 7.7%: A Critical Network Adjustment Unfolds first appeared on BitcoinWorld .