Bitcoin mining difficulty increases by 1.29%

The bitcoin network mining difficulty jumped back up by 1.29% on Wednesday after dipping more than 4% two weeks ago, according to data from BTC.com.

That previous decline represented the biggest drop in mining difficulty since July of last year when miners were forced to shut down operations in China.

The network's hash rate has increased by about 2.3% from May 25, the date of the last update, according to data compiled by The Block Research.

Mining difficulty refers to the complexity of the mathematical process behind mining, during which miners are repeatedly trying to find a hash below a set level. Miners that "discover" this hash win the reward for the next transaction block. Mining difficulty adjusts every 2,016 blocks (roughly every two weeks) in sync with the network's hash rate.

Crypto miner Argo said that it mined 25% less bitcoin in May, in part due to the increase in difficulty that the network experienced in May.

Difficulty increased by 5.56 % on April 27 and 4.89% on May 11.