Steemians,
Today Bitcoin (BTC, SHA-256) Block Difficulty rose from 708659466230 to the current 804525194568, an approximately 13.5% increase, creating the single largest difficulty factor to date. This new block computation comes on the heels of the SegWit adoption coming August 1st and the resulting decrease in mining profitability may create an impact on the market price.
Yesterday's difficulty of 708659466230 would have produced a daily output yield at a mining rate of 15000 TH/s of 0.00532252 BTC worth 12.57 USD.
The new difficulty at the same mining power will now produce 0.00468830 BTC at 11.07 USD. A loss of 1.50 USD per day.
This is something to be considered when establishing any new 3rd party mining contracts, as the profitability per year will increase your expected cost return.
The upcoming changes to Bitcoin blockchain could effect the price in either an upward or downward motion, regaining mining profitability or further rescinding it respectively.
Something to be aware of and keep your eyes on in the weeks to come.
@rabbt
Chart credits: bitcoin.sipa.be & coinwarz.com