Bitcoin Hashrate Tops 1 ZH/s, Hashprice Slides Ahead of April Difficulty
Bitcoin hashrate has reclaimed 1 ZH/s, reaching about 1.02 ZH/s (1,022 EH/s) as of Mar 28, 2026. The seven-day average is ~1,007 EH/s, up from ~931 EH/s on Mar 18. In ten days, miners added roughly 76 EH/s.
However, Bitcoin hashprice remains under pressure. Hashprice fell 6.65% in three days to about $31.60 per PH/s per day (from a Mar 25 high of $33.85). This keeps mining economics tight, with fees still not compensating. Miners earn ~3.14 BTC per block (including fees), while on-chain fees are only ~0.43% of block reward. Fees average ~2.4 sats/vB, translating to roughly 0.000004 BTC (≈$0.27) per typical transaction.
Network timing also matters for the next Bitcoin difficulty adjustment. Blocks are being found faster than the 10-minute target, averaging one every 9 minutes 23 seconds over the past day. About 1,200 of the 2,016 blocks needed for the next adjustment have already been mined. The last difficulty change dropped difficulty by 7.76%; the next epoch is due Apr 2, 2026, with an estimated difficulty increase of ~6.43%.
Takeaway for traders: Bitcoin hashrate is rising, but hashprice weakness plus a likely upward difficulty adjustment suggests miner margins may stay compressed near-term.
Neutral
The article is primarily about Bitcoin mining conditions rather than direct spot demand. Bitcoin hashrate reclaiming 1 ZH/s signals continued miner participation and/or fresh deployment of hardware. But hashprice is down 6.65%, and fee contribution remains low (only ~0.43% of block reward), which points to compressed margins.
Crucially, blocks are coming in faster than the 10-minute target, and the next difficulty adjustment (Apr 2, 2026) is estimated to rise ~6.43%. Historically, upward difficulty after a period of strong hashrate can tighten miner cash flows, increasing the odds of selective shutdowns later—often a short-term negative for mining sentiment.
However, the net market impact on BTC price is uncertain: higher hashrate also supports network security narratives, and the reported hashprice drop is not extreme relative to the broader mining cycle. Compared with past difficulty-up cycles, this setup leans toward “watch margins” more than “panic sell BTC.” Traders may use this as a near-term sentiment indicator for miner flow and potential sell-pressure if hashprice continues to slide, but there’s no explicit catalyst in the article that would strongly move BTC instantly.