Confirmed as network-data reporting: bitcoin’s mining difficulty has stayed below its late-2025 peak long enough for outlets to call it the longest such stretch on record.
CryptoNews.net, citing BlockchainReporter and mempool.space data dated November 8, puts difficulty near 148.36 trillion after the October 29, 2026 retarget, about 4.9% under the 155.97 trillion peak set on October 29, 2025. Bitcoin Foundation’s November 8 write-up uses similar levels (about 148 trillion versus a 156 trillion peak) and the same “longest recordless stretch” framing.
One Bright Lab circulated the same 148.36 trillion / 5% below peak figures on November 8. Engagement on that post was light; the primary numbers still come from the outlet reports above, not from the viral layer.
Difficulty is a retarget against block times, not a moral judgment on bitcoin. A long pause below a prior high can mean expensive power, AI competition for megawatts, or simply that adding machines does not pay at current hashprice — a theme also visible in miners selling coins to fund data-center leases.
The skeptical read: “recordless” sounds dramatic and can still be temporary. The next retargets matter more than the slogan. Watch hashprice, curtailment credits and whether AI leases keep pulling capacity off the ASIC floor.
Read an X post circulating the difficulty figures
Engagement on the post (Nov 9, 2026, 20:15 UTC): 48 likes · 3 reposts · 12 replies · 1 quotes · 0 bookmarks · 818 views. Counts change.