Ethereum has outperformed Bitcoin just 15% of the time since its launch
Ethereum has only outperformed Bitcoin for 15% of all trading days since its launch almost a decade ago, according to analysts.Since Ether (ETH) began trading in mid-2015, it has underperformed against Bitcoin (BTC) 85% of the time, analyst James Check said in an April 8 X post.Data shared by Check shows that Ether significantly outperformed Bitcoin in its early years from mid-2015 to around mid-2017, and it had two short periods in late 2019 and early 2020 when the ETH to BTC ratio was in Ether’s favor.However, Bitcoin has outperformed Ether for the past five years.ETH/BTC profitable days. Source: James CheckThe ETH/BTC ratio, which shows the price of Ether in terms of Bitcoin, fell to a five-year low of 0.018 on April 9, according to TradingView. The last time the ratio fell below its current level was December 2019, when ETH crashed to $125 while Bitcoin was trading at around $7,000. Ether has wiped out seven years of gains, plummeting a further 10% over the past 24 hours to under $1,450, below its 2018 market cycle peak.ETH fell to $1,400 in early trading on April 9, according to CoinGecko. Comparatively, Bitcoin lost 6% on the day in a fall to $75,000, which is still 275% higher than its peak during the bull market seven years ago.Ethereum backers air concern of “stagnation”Ethereum advocates have aired concerns about the network’s growth as the token struggled to gain traction earlier this year when Bitcoin hit a new price peak.“I love Ethereum. However, it’s time to face reality: Ethereum has had [around] the same number of active addresses for the past 4 years.” Web3 researcher Stacy Muur posted to X on April 8. Related: Ethereum price falls to 2-year low, but pro traders still have hopeHowever, other researchers noted that most of the new addresses are on Ethereum layer-2 scaling networks, which have surged in terms of value locked onchain over the past couple of years, according to L2beat. While most long-term ETH investors are now holding at a loss, technical indicators such as fractal patterns seen in 2018 and 2022 suggest that the asset is approaching oversold levels and a bottom could be near the $1,000 level, according to Cointelegraph analysis. Magazine: 3 reasons Ethereum could turn a corner: Kain Warwick, X Hall of Flame
Bitcoin futures divergences point to transitioning market — Are BTC bulls accumulating?
Bitcoin’s (BTC) price has dropped 5.6% over the past seven days, closing three daily candles below the $80,000 support for the first time since Nov. 9, 2024. Data from Glassnode highlighted Bitcoin witnessing a 64% rise in futures volume during the same period. The analytics platform said that “this marks a reversal from the past month,” when futures volume progressively decreased.A rise in futures volumes suggested heightened market activity, but further analysis of the broader futures market revealed a more complex outlook. Bitcoin’s open interest (OI), representing the total value of outstanding futures contracts, declined 19% over the past two weeks.Bitcoin futures volume chart by Glassnode. Source: X.comThis reduction suggests that while trading volume is increasing, some traders are closing their positions rather than keeping them open, possibly to lock in profits or mitigate risk with respect to Bitcoin’s bearish market structure. Total market liquidation chart. Source: CoinGlassTotal crypto liquidations also reached $2 billion between April 6 to April 8, further strengthening the likelihood of traders adopting a cautious approach. Considering this data collectively suggests that Bitcoin might be in a transitionary state. The surge in futures volume reflects growing interest and speculative activity, potentially signaling the end of a correction phase and the start of an accumulation period. Yet, the decline in open interest highlights a risk-off approach, with traders reducing exposure amid lingering macroeconomic uncertainty.If Bitcoin price fails to recover while futures volume and open interest converge, that might signal the beginning of a bear market. Likewise, Bitcoin’s price rising alongside OI and trading volumes would imply an accumulation period, followed by a possible uptrend. Related: Bitcoin on verge of largest ‘price drawdown’ of the bull market — AnalystSpot Bitcoin ETF outflows remain minimalMajor US equities are currently down more than 20% from their all-time highs, with the S&P 500 losing a year’s growth in just over a month. While traditional institutions have possibly faced significant unrealized losses over the past two weeks, spot Bitcoin ETF outflow data did not reflect the market panic just yet. Total spot BTC ETF flows data. Source: SosovalueOver the past two weeks, the total spot BTC ETF outflows have been just under $300 million. This divergence highlights a resilience in Bitcoin’s institutional investor base. Unlike the selling seen in equity markets, the limited outflows from spot BTC ETFs suggest that institutional investors are not yet panicking, potentially viewing Bitcoin as a hedge or maintaining confidence in its long-term value amid traditional market turmoil.Related: Bitcoin’s 24/7 liquidity: Double-edged sword during global market turmoilThis article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.
Web3 active developers drop nearly 40% in one year
Weekly active developers in the crypto space dropped by almost 40% in one year as “narrative-led” developments took over the industry. Crypto data and analytics platform Artemis Terminal shows that on March 17, 2024, the number of active developers tagged on open-source repositories in a week was 12,380. The number dropped to around 7,600 on March 16, signaling a 38.6% drop in weekly active developers in one year. The number of active developers working across over 1,500 ecosystems is used as an indicator of the Web3 ecosystem’s overall health. Developer activity suggests increased innovation and maintenance of protocols, which contributes to long-term sustainability. Weekly active developers in the crypto space. Source: Artemis TerminalCommunity calls for more developer-led narrativesThe drop in developer activity across the Web3 space spurred calls for more developer-led narratives on social media. On X, Optimism contributor Binji Pande said the drop in one of the “clearest signals of long-term health” means that attention shifted, incentives dried up, and speculation moved faster than utility. The developer said there isn’t much to do onchain, while those building real foundations rarely get into the spotlight. The developer said that this could cause the game to collapse. “If nothing meaningful happens onchain, distribution loses its power,” Pande wrote. Pande underscored the need for more support for developers and more teams thinking about the end-to-end products and not just code. “There’s been a lot of narrative-led development, but there should be more development-led narratives,” Panded added. Related: Ethereum devs prepare final Pectra test before mainnet launchMemecoin “casino” replaced real crypto productsResponding to Pande, developer Ben Ward said that markets and venture capitalists have rewarded protocols with products for too long. The developer said that the only thing in crypto with a product-market fit is the decentralized finance (DeFi) “memecoin casino.” However, the developer said this is not sustainable, adding that the space is far from building things people want to use. In the first quarter of 2024, memecoins became the most profitable narrative in the Web3 space as it became easier to launch tokens using protocols like Pump.fun. The memecoin frenzy extended into 2025, when the United States President Donald Trump joined in, launching his own memecoin token. Pande said that while the space has come a long way, it may have gone the wrong way. The developer said the industry needs to go back to basics and think about how to make crypto “feel futuristic” again. Magazine: What are native rollups? Full guide to Ethereum’s latest innovation
Ripple acquires crypto-friendly prime broker Hidden Road for $1.25B
Blockchain-based payments network Ripple announced it has acquired crypto-friendly prime broker Hidden Road in one of the largest mergers in the cryptocurrency industry to date.Ripple is acquiring Hidden Road in a $1.25 billion deal, the company officially announced on April 8.The deal will make Ripple the first crypto firm to own and operate a global, multi-asset prime broker. According to the company’s April 8 announcement, the acquisition is expected to position Ripple as the world’s largest non-bank prime broker, with Hidden Road currently clearing more than $3 trillion across more than 300 institutions.The acquisition also aims to reinforce the position of Ripple USD (RLUSD), an institution-focused stablecoin launched by Ripple in December 2024.Ripple has been a Hidden Road customer for yearsRipple has been a customer of Hidden Road for years and “knows their breadth of expertise firsthand,” Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said in an X post on April 8.He also mentioned that Hidden Road’s $3 trillion in annual clearing will tap into Ripple-backed XRP (XRP) and its underlying decentralized, public blockchain, the XRP Ledger (XRPL).Source: Brad Garlinghouse“Instead of waiting for up to 24 hours to settle trades through fiat rails, Hidden Road will be using XRPL for clearing a portion of trades, and most consequentially, using RLUSD as collateral across its prime brokerage services,” Garlinghouse wrote on X.“The price tag isn’t what’s most important — it’s that this deal marks a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for crypto to access the largest and most trusted traditional markets, and vice versa,” the CEO added.The crucial role of SEC leadership changesGarlinghouse said the move comes at a pivotal time in the US digital assets industry and makes a crucial contribution to the market amid a regulatory shift in the US.“We are at an inflection point for the next phase of digital asset adoption — the US market is effectively open for the first time due to the regulatory overhang of the former SEC coming to an end, and the market is maturing to address the needs of traditional finance,” Garlinghouse said, adding:“With these tailwinds, we are continuing to pursue opportunities to massively transform the space, leveraging our unique position and strengths of XRP to accelerate our business and enhance our current solutions and technology.”Hidden Road founder and CEO Marc Asch expressed confidence in the anticipated growth of the company with the acquisition.“With new resources, licenses, and added risk capital, this deal will unlock significant growth in Hidden Road’s business, allowing us to increase capacity to our customer base, expand into new products, and service more markets and asset classes,” Asch stated.This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.Magazine: XRP win leaves Ripple and industry with no crypto legal precedent set
Wall Street is suffering a stinky meltdown while Fartcoin is up 30%
While crypto and stock markets are deep in the red this week, one memecoin is defying the trend and surging at the time of writing. Fartcoin (FARTCOIN) has surged a whopping 30% over the past 24 hours, topping $0.60 on April 8, according to CoinGecko. On April 7, the Solana-based memecoin hit a low of $0.42 amid the broader crypto market slump, which saw Bitcoin (BTC) prices fall below $75,000 to a five-month low. However, since then the token has gained more than 40% and is one of the crypto market’s top performers at the moment. Crypto trader “RookieXBT” told their 484,000 followers that Fartcoin volume was increasing “while the world falls apart,” adding, “No other coin is doing this.” The financial parody account “Not Jerome Powell” quipped, “hot air rises,” noting that every asset was down aside from Fartcoin. Stock markets across the globe slumped on April 7 in reaction to Donald Trump’s sweeping trade tariffs. S&P 500 tanked almost 10% over the past week. Source: Google FinanceThe Fartcoin token, which launched in October with no utility, has defied the markets several times before by bouncing upward when other assets have tanked. Bitcoin dumped 6% on April 3 in a fall from above $87,000 to around $81,500. Fartcoin was one of the first to recover, surging 36% the following day. Additionally, the token saw its market capitalization top $1 billion in December during a wider slump for altcoins. Goldbug Peter Schiff responds to Fartcoin prices. Source: XIt hit an all-time high of $2.48 during the peak of the memecoin frenzy in mid-January. However, it has since retreated 76% from those levels as the memecoin bubble burst. Other memecoins also bounce upwardA related Solana memecoin based on a comic book character called Fartboy (FARTBOY) is also surging, having gained 60% to top $0.03 on April 8, according to CoinGecko. However, this memecoin is also down 85% from its mid-February peak. Related: Memecoins 2.0: The market crashed, but the billion-dollar circus rolls onOther memecoins outperforming the wider crypto market at the moment include SPX6900 (SPX), which is up 11.5%; Cheems Token (CHEEMS), which has gained 10.5%; AI Companions (AIC), currently up 10%; and Mog Coin (MOG), which has surged 33% on the day. Even the memecoin stalwarts Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) have outperformed Bitcoin over the past 24 hours. Magazine: Financial nihilism in crypto is over — It’s time to dream big again
China’s tariff response may mean more capital flight to crypto: Hayes
China’s response to America’s sweeping trade tariffs could result in capital flight to Bitcoin and crypto, according to BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes.“If not the Fed [Federal Reserve], then the PBOC [People’s Bank of China] will give us the Yahtzee ingredients,” said Hayes on X on April 8 in reference to the catalyst needed to resume the crypto market bull run.Hayes said that if the Chinese central bank devalued its currency, the yuan, the “narrative [is] that Chinese capital flight will flow into Bitcoin,” adding that “it worked in 2013, 2015, and can work in 2025.” Bybit co-founder and CEO Ben Zhou said that China will try to lower the yuan to counter the tariff, adding that historically, whenever the yuan drops, “a lot of Chinese capital flows into BTC,” which is bullish for Bitcoin (BTC).The yuan has weakened against the greenback since 2022. Source. Google FinanceChina devalued the yuan by nearly 2% against the US dollar, which saw the largest single-day drop in decades in August 2015. Bitcoin did see some increased interest during this period, though the direct causative relationship is debated.When the yuan fell below the symbolic 7:1 ratio against the USD in August 2019, Bitcoin also saw price increases in the same timeframe. Some analysts suggested that Chinese investors were using Bitcoin as a hedge as the asset jumped 20% in the first week of that month. In 2019, crypto asset manager Grayscale noted the depreciation in the Chinese yuan at attributed it as a factor that spurred Bitcoin markets at the time. Currency control avoidance and wealth preservationWealthy Chinese citizens may have used crypto in the past to preserve their wealth, move it beyond government reach, and avoid capital controls and restrictions within the country, according to analysts. It is also believed that currency devaluations also damage trust in central banks and government financial management, pushing people toward decentralized alternatives like Bitcoin.Related: $2T fake tariff news pump shows ‘market is ready to ape’On April 7, the US president vowed to ratchet up additional tariffs against China, which responded by stating it “will fight to the end.”“If the US implements escalated tariff measures, China will resolutely take countermeasures to defend its own interests,” the Chinese Commerce Ministry said in a statement.Magazine: Financial nihilism in crypto is over — It’s time to dream big again
Spanish police arrest six over $20M AI-powered investment scam
Authorities in Spain have arrested six people who helped operate a global AI-powered investment scam that stole over $20 million from at least 208 victims. The scammers would swindle victims up to three times. After stealing an initial sum through the investment scam, the fraudsters contacted victims twice more, masquerading as investment managers and then as authorities, offering to recover the stolen funds for a fee, Spanish police said in an April 7 statement. The scammers used deepfake ads of “national personalities” promising high returns on crypto investments, and would occasionally pose as financial advisers or even feign romantic interest to lure in victims. Experts have been warning of a rise in AI-enhanced scams. Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis said in its Feb. 13 Crypto Scam Revenue 2024 report that generative AI is making “scams more scalable and affordable for bad actors to conduct.”🚩Detenidas seis personas por estafar más de 19 millones de euros usando #inteligenciaartificial🔴Engañaban a las víctimas a través de anuncios manipulados con #IA para que realizaran inversiones con #criptomonedas en productos supuestamente muy rentables pic.twitter.com/rMrdgBpOYz— Policía Nacional (@policia) April 7, 2025“Victims were not selected randomly; instead, algorithms selected those whose profiles matched the cybercriminals’ searches,” Spanish police said.“Once they selected their victims, they placed advertising campaigns on the websites or social networks they used, offering them cryptocurrency investments with high returns and zero risk of asset loss — investments that, obviously, turned out to be a scam.” When victims could not withdraw the funds, most realized it was a scam, according to Spanish police; however, the ruse didn’t end there. Scammers would trick victims again with follow-up scamsThe cybercriminals would then contact victims again, posing as investment managers, claiming the stolen funds were frozen and could be recovered if they paid a deposit. “The victims, hoping to finally recover their money, made the deposit without realizing they had been scammed again,” Spanish police said.The scammers would then contact victims a third time, this time posing as Europol agents or lawyers from the United Kingdom, offering to return the stolen funds if the victim paid the corresponding taxes in the country where it was blocked.Related: Crypto broker breaks ankles while fleeing kidnappers in SpainSpanish authorities arrested six people involved in the syndicate, charging them with fraud, money laundering and falsifying documents in a criminal organization. During a raid on the alleged leader behind the scam, Spanish authorities seized numerous cell phones, computers, hard drives, a simulated weapon and extensive documentation. Several people linked to the plot have also been identified in other countries, and the syndicate allegedly created a large number of fake companies to channel the stolen funds. “Furthermore, the members of the organization used multiple false identities. In the case of the leader, for example, he used more than 50 different identities,” Spanish police said.Magazine: Bitcoin heading to $70K soon? Crypto baller funds SpaceX flight: Hodler’s Digest, March 30 – April 5
Bitcoin price retakes $80K as US stocks avoid 'Black Monday' meltdown
Bitcoin (BTC) sought a relief rally into the April 7 Wall Street open as US stocks rebounded from a 4%+ loss.BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingViewBitcoin joins US stocks in relief rallyData from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed the area around $80,000 forming a focus for BTC/USD after the pair hit five-month lows.The fallout from US trade tariffs continued to ricochet across global markets, with Asia stocks closing the day with considerable losses.At the same time, reports of a potential 90-day pause in the tariffs going live, against a background of negotiations with over 50 US trading partners, helped pare losses in futures markets ahead of the open and allowed the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Index to avert a ”Black Monday” 1987-style implosion.“Nasdaq futures were down nearly -7% at their lowest point last night,” trading resource The Kobeissi Letter noted in part of ongoing coverage on X.Kobeissi nonetheless acknowledged that the S&P 500 had fallen more than 20% from its February all-time highs, opening in “bear market territory” for the first time since 2022.S&P 500 1-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingViewContinuing, trading firm QCP Capital called international engagement over tariffs “remarkable.”“Yet as the world scrambles to secure a seat at the table, markets are likely to remain on edge,” it concluded in its latest bulletin to Telegram channel subscribers. “The president, showing no signs of backing down, remarked that he doesn’t want stocks to fall, ‘but sometimes you have to take medicine.’ With confidence and the credibility of the U.S. economy hanging in the balance, the coming days could prove too bitter a pill for global markets, and for Trump himself, if meaningful progress isn’t made before Wednesday.”Fed target rate probability comparison for May FOMC meeting. Source: CME GroupData from CME Group’s FedWatch Tool continued to show shifting market expectations on interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, with the upcoming meeting in June now favored as a deadline.BTC price safety net extends to $69,000Bitcoin meanwhile attempted to solidify support in the mid-$70,000 range, having come within spitting distance of old all-time highs from March 2024.Related: Black Monday 2.0? 5 things to know in Bitcoin this weekIn its latest observations, onchain analytics firm Glassnode revealed the lows coinciding with the realized price of large tranches of the BTC supply.“For now, $BTC seems to have found support at $74K. This aligns with the first major supply cluster below $80K – over 50K $BTC at $74.2K,” it reported on X. “This level is mostly held by investors who had been active for five months, steadily raising their cost basis until 10 March, after which they’ve remained dormant.”Bitcoin supply cost basis data. Source: Glassnode/XGlassnode added that between the lows and $70,000 was another 175,000 BTC of “cost basis clusters.”“The single largest level within this range is $71.6k, holding ~41k $BTC. The next more substantial support sits at $69.9k, where ~68k $BTC are held,” it confirmed.As Cointelegraph reported, $69,000 and the area nearby is seen as a reliable long-term BTC price support zone which is statistically unlikely to break down.This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.
A decade-old debate is back as self-custody gets smarter
Opinion by: Alvin Kan, chief operating officer of Bitget WalletHere we go again: A top centralized crypto exchange (CEX) was hacked, this time likely for the largest sum in humanity’s history. We were lucky to avoid the worst — platform collapse and devastating consequences for the industry. The incident reminded us again that even the strongest market players are not invincible. CEXs’ freedom to manage customer funds comes with risks, reminding users that good old non-custodial storage is still the safest. With recent advances in security features, wallets safeguard coins and help users safely make the most of their crypto.Golden rules never rustAfter the $1.5 billion Bybit hack, things settled down quite quickly. If the platform didn’t keep reserves of 1:1 for client funds, however, the hack could have dire consequences for the entire industry. When FTX’s liquidity problems surfaced in 2022, a bank run killed the platform in days, and billions of repayments are only just starting.Historically, CEXs have been a primary target for hackers. Between 2012 and 2023, centralized exchanges fell victim to 118 hacks, losing almost $11 billion. This is 11 times more than money directly stolen from blockchain networks and cryptocurrency wallets. Again and again, we see how vulnerable crypto market titans can be. The golden “not your keys, not your Bitcoin” rule remains highly relevant.Making a centralized crypto exchange deposit means delegating the storage of your money. CEXs keep all private keys and hence have complete control over customers’ funds. Besides a smooth trading experience, this entails a few unpleasant consequences. First, centralized platforms store substantial amounts in a few wallets, making them a frequent target for hackers. CEXs use cold wallets and multisig transactions, which is supposed to be an ultimately secure method. This framework, however, relies on third-party infrastructure to merge signatures, and these systems turned out to be vulnerable. When traders let CEXs keep their private keys, there’s a chance they will lose all their funds one day for reasons they entirely cannot control. In addition to hacks, there are many other ways we risk our funds when delegating custody. Centralized exchanges can freeze accounts for sophisticated legal reasons, impose withdrawal limits and mismanage funds, leading to bankruptcy. History suggests these things often happen unexpectedly — and the only way to be prepared is to take responsibility for storing our money in our own hands. Not just encryptionWhen you store crypto in a non-custodial wallet, your private keys reside on your device in an encrypted form. You have complete control over your funds, unlike centralized platforms where you have none. Self-custody is not zero-risk. You can engage with any decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol or swap any — even unlisted — coins. This freedom comes with great responsibility: DeFi platforms have become a more frequent attack target over the last few years. Developers often focus on rapid growth, leaving security measures behind.Today’s wallets, however, support users’ freedom, giving them more tools to protect their funds than ever before. These start with a few layers of encryption, making sure no one but you can reach your private keys. A passcode often verifies outgoing transactions and decentralized application (DApp) permissions, so there’s dual protection for daily wallet activities. Recent: Hardware wallet Ledger helps competitor Trezor resolve security vulnerabilitySome wallets even eliminate the need to remember seed phrases while keeping them decentralized. If you set up a multiparty computation wallet, private keys are spread across multiple devices. There’s no risk of single-point failure, and you can recover access to coins even if one wallet keeper is lost. Security measures today have gone even further, making “storage-only” wallets a thing of the past. Besides private key encryption, wallets detect risks around the crypto landscape, helping users limit interactions with malicious projects. Dedicated systems detect phishing attacks, malicious addresses and fraudulent contracts, displaying risk alerts for users and helping them prevent theft. Sometimes, users grant excessive permissions to DApps, allowing indefinite access to their funds, and then forget they did it. Some wallets provide simple tools to review previously given permissions and revoke access, especially if the system flags them as risky. Responsible wallets also constantly undergo independent security audits by multiple parties, checking their core code and additional features such as token swap tools, NFT marketplaces, etc. Some platforms maintain a protection fund to reimburse users in case of a security incident. Finally, some also educate users on how to protect themselves from scams. Good non-custodial wallets don’t just store funds well. They help you use them safely, making the most of your coins.Massive amounts stored in CEXs’ wallets attract hackers like a flame lures moths. One solution is to spread assets across even more wallets so that compromising one won’t put the entire system at risk. Another one is for users to minimize reliance on centralized platforms and regain control of their funds, taking advantage of wallets’ smart security features.Opinion by: Alvin Kan, chief operating officer of Bitget Wallet. This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
Bitcoin hashrate tops 1 Zetahash in historic first, trackers show
The Bitcoin network hashrate has topped 1 Zetahash per second (ZH/s) for the first time in Bitcoin’s 16-year history, according to several blockchain data sources.Bitcoin’s hashrate crossed the milestone on April 5 at a peak of 1.025 ZH/s, according to mempool.space data, while BTC Frame data said it hit 1.02 ZH/s a day earlier.Data from Coinwarz says that Bitcoin hashrate soared to as high as 1.1 ZH/s on April 4 at block height 890,915 — however, the same data indicates that Bitcoin first crossed 1 ZH/s on March 24.Bitcoin’s hashrate has fallen back below 0.95 ZH/s on April 7 since reaching 1 ZH/s. Source: BTC FrameDiscrepancy in Bitcoin hashrate trackers The differences result from the varying approaches used to calculate hashrate — such as when block times and difficulty adjustments are measured, which Bitcoin nodes and miner pools are used to pull data from and more.Bitcoin cypherpunk Jameson Lopp also previously pointed out that estimating Bitcoin’s hashrate with one “trailing block” as opposed to five can result in a difference of over 0.04 ZH/s.“Viewing the raw Hashrate metric can be deceiving due to random variations in block times,” added Blockware Solutions head analyst Mitchell Askew, who pointed out that Bitcoin’s 30-day moving average hashrate is still around 0.845 ZH/s mark in a note to Cointelegraph.Notching 1 ZH/s is a massive network achievementDespite the discrepancies, the feat highlights the massive amount of computational power and increasing decentralization of the Bitcoin network, making it more secure than ever and significantly reducing the likelihood of a 51% attack.The Bitcoin network’s reported rise to 1 ZH/s — equivalent to 1,000 Exahashes per second — marks a 1,000x increase since late January 2016, when Bitcoin first hit 1 EH/s for the first time. The second-largest proof-of-work crypto network, Litecoin, currently boasts a hashrate of 2.49 Petahashes per second according to Coinwarz — making it around 40,000 times less computationally powerful than Bitcoin.Source: Pierre RochardAskew noted that the huge rise in hashrate has coincided with more commercial Bitcoin mining firms competing to solve Bitcoin blocks in recent years.“Miners are doubling down: expanding sites and plugging in more efficient machines,” Askew said, adding that less efficient miners could soon be washed out unless Bitcoin’s (BTC) price rallies again in the coming months.MARA Holdings is the largest Bitcoin miner with more than 50 EH/s of compute power, while the largest share of hashrate is channeled to Bitcoin mining pools Foundry USA Pool and AntPool, according to the Hashrate Index.Related: Bitcoin price drops below $80K as stocks face 1987 Black Monday rerunAt least 24 publicly listed Bitcoin companies have machines set up to mine Bitcoin, according to CompaniesMarketCap.com. Among the other large miners contributing hashrate are Riot Platforms, Core Scientific, CleanSpark, Hut 8 Mining and TeraWulf.Bitcoin’s hashrate soars as BTC plummets on recession fearsThe new all-time high in Bitcoin hashrate came in the middle of a sharp market downturn — with Bitcoin (BTC) falling nearly 10% over the last four days to $78,750, while US stocks saw an estimated $6.6 trillion loss on April 3 and 4 — the largest two-day loss ever.Much of the fall has been attributed to US President Donald Trump’s tariff plans, which many industry analysts say are sparking recession fears.Magazine: Financial nihilism in crypto is over — It’s time to dream big again