Bitcoin mining difficulty drops 2.3% as hashrate falls below 1 ZH/s, slowing block times.

Bitcoin's network difficulty decreased by 2.3% on May 1, marking the sixth reduction in 2026, as the hashrate slipped below 1 zettahash per second (ZH/s). This decline in computational power has lengthened block times to about 10 minutes and 28 seconds, slightly behind the expected schedule. Despite the lower hashrate, miner earnings improved with hashprice rising to $37.52 per petahash per second. The next difficulty adjustment is expected around May 17, with market watchers closely monitoring whether hashrate stabilizes or continues to decline.