On May 3, 2020, the Bitcoin network recorded a new all-time high in hash rate, reaching approximately 117.4 exahashes per second (EH/s) — an 8.80% increase from the previous week alone. The milestone, confirmed by on-chain analytics firm Glassnode, came just ten days before the network’s highly anticipated third halving event scheduled for May 11, when block rewards for miners would be slashed from 12.5 BTC to 6.25 BTC.
TL;DR
- Bitcoin hash rate hit a new all-time high of ~117.4 EH/s on May 3, 2020
- The record came just 10 days before the third BTC halving on May 11
- Network difficulty reached 15.96 trillion, reflecting intensified competition among miners
- Total Bitcoin addresses grew to over 48.27 million, adding 262,901 new addresses in a single week
- BTC transaction fees surged by over 182% week-over-week as network congestion increased
A Hash Rate Surge That Commands Attention
According to data compiled by Huobi Research for the week ending May 3, the Bitcoin network’s average hash rate climbed to 117.4 EH/s, representing an 8.80% weekly increase. Mining difficulty also inched upward to 15.96 trillion, a modest 0.06% rise that nonetheless signaled sustained miner commitment despite the impending revenue reduction.
The Glassnode tweet confirming the new all-time high sent ripples through the cryptocurrency community, reigniting a long-standing debate: does Bitcoin’s price follow its hash rate, or is the relationship merely coincidental?
The Price-Hash Rate Debate Heats Up
Proponents of the “price follows hash rate” theory, including prominent broadcaster Max Keiser, argue that rising hash rate reflects deepening network security and growing institutional commitment to Bitcoin mining. Keiser has maintained since 2018 that hash rate trends serve as a leading indicator for BTC price movements.
Historical precedent offers some support. In September 2018, with the hash rate hovering around 56 EH/s, Bitcoin traded near $6,500. By December of that year, the hash rate had collapsed to approximately 31 EH/s, and BTC had plunged to between $3,200 and $4,000. The subsequent hash rate recovery in 2019 preceded Bitcoin’s price rally back above $10,000.
However, not everyone is convinced. Market analyst Alex Krüger has argued that the causation runs in the opposite direction: “Hash rate follows perceived mining profitability,” he stated, suggesting that miners expand operations when price trends make mining lucrative, not the other way around.
Transaction Fees Skyrocket Ahead of Halving
One immediate and measurable impact of the pre-halving activity was a dramatic surge in transaction fees. Data from Huobi Research shows that the average Bitcoin transaction fee for the week ending May 3 reached $2.108 — a staggering 182.20% increase from the previous week. This spike was further corroborated by Decrypt, which reported that the average fee hit $2.94 on April 30, the highest level in ten months.
The rising fees reflected growing network congestion as users rushed to move funds ahead of the halving. Average block size increased by 8.06% to 1.34 MB, while the average number of transactions per block actually decreased by 6.15% to 1,938 — suggesting that larger, fee-heavy transactions were dominating block space.
Network Growth Remains Robust
Beyond hash rate and fees, the Bitcoin network showed healthy organic growth. The total number of unique Bitcoin addresses reached 48,274,688, with 262,901 new addresses added during the week — a 0.55% increase. This steady user base expansion, occurring even as Bitcoin traded around $8,897 according to CoinMarketCap data, suggested that network adoption was proceeding independently of short-term price action.
Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, also saw its hash rate increase by 1.72% to 179.66 TH/s, while ETH mining difficulty rose 1.45% to 2,249.51 TH. The ETH network maintained substantially lower transaction costs, with average fees at just $0.144 — a 4.35% weekly increase that paled in comparison to Bitcoin’s fee surge.
Why This Matters
The hash rate all-time high on May 3, 2020, represented more than a statistical milestone. It demonstrated that despite the imminent halving — which would cut miner revenue by 50% — mining operations worldwide were continuing to expand and invest in infrastructure. This level of commitment from miners signaled strong conviction in Bitcoin’s long-term value proposition.
The fee surge, meanwhile, offered a preview of how the Bitcoin network might sustain miner incentives in a post-halving world where block subsidies steadily diminish. If transaction fees can partially offset reduced block rewards, the economic security model that underpins Bitcoin remains viable.
For the broader blockchain ecosystem, the hash rate record validated the proof-of-work consensus mechanism’s resilience and scalability. As BTC traded at $8,897 with a market cap of $163.4 billion and the total crypto market hovering near $248.9 billion, the network was processing record levels of computational power — a testament to the robustness of decentralized infrastructure at scale.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrency investments carry risk, and readers should conduct their own research before making investment decisions.
117.4 EH/s feels cute now that we are past 600. those old S9 miners were literally space heaters pretending to be money printers
s9_scrap_iron and people were buying secondary market S9s for $400 a pop back then. couldnt even mine enough BTC to cover the shipping cost within a month
117.4 EH/s 10 days before the halving. miners were deploying everything they had to maximize pre-halving revenue. smart play
117 EH/s ten days before the halving and people still called it a speculative bubble. miners were literally voting with hardware
117 EH/s felt like a big deal back then. i remember mining with Antminer S9s thinking we were early. good times
117.4 EH/s with S19s just rolling off assembly lines. the jump from 117 to 195 EH/s in 18 months was pure hardware cycle
watt_drop_ the S19 was a gamechanger. efficiency went from like 100 J/TH on the S9 to 25 on the S19. thats why hash rate exploded post-halving
117.4 EH/s felt massive in 2020. network is past 600 now and people still complain about mining centralization. the S19 rollout was the real inflection point
difficulty at 15.96 trillion and fees up 182% w/w. the congestion was the real signal, everyone was rushing to move before the reward cut
182 percent fee surge was everyone consolidating UTXOs before the halving cut revenue in half. same thing will happen in 2024 and 2028, its not organic adoption
182% fee surge is the tell. network congestion always spikes before halvings as people rush to move coins
the fee surge was partly because people were consolidating UTXOs before the halving. classic pre event behavior
difficulty_eye_ S9s being decommissioned in droves is exactly why the hashrate jump was sustainable. old gen out new gen in. the efficiency curve did the heavy lifting
262k new addresses in a single week. that kind of growth usually precedes a major move
262k new addresses in one week but how many were actual new users vs exchange wallet reshuffling
Aarav J. most new addresses were exchange reshuffling for sure. Binance alone created thousands of deposit addresses during pre-halving congestion. the 262k number needs context
117.4 EH/s with s19s just rolling off assembly lines. imagine what that number looks like when s21s saturate the network
Pavel R. S21s at 200 TH/s would push network hashrate past 400 EH/s. the pre-halving arms race was just the warmup
Pavel R. S21s were science fiction in 2020. the jump from 117 to 195 EH/s in 18 months was pure S19 deployment at industrial scale
s19_deploy from 117 to 195 EH/s in 18 months was just the warmup. post-halving S21 deployment pushed it past 600. the efficiency curve is the whole story
asic_math_ S19s took hashrate from 117 to 195 EH/s in 18 months. now S21s are pushing past 600. efficiency curve is insane
miners dumping old gen s9s and deploying s19s at max speed. the hashrate jump was pure hardware cycle
difficulty_eye_ S9s were already being decommissioned in droves. the 117.4 EH/s number was almost entirely S19 Prohashrate. old gen was getting scrapped for aluminum
117.4 EH/s at 15.96 trillion difficulty with fees up 182 percent. pre halving congestion was a feature not a bug for miners running efficient hardware
182% fee surge was mostly UTXO consolidation not organic usage. same pattern every pre-halving window. transactions spike then crash after the event
182% fee surge was UTXO consolidation before halving, not organic usage. same pattern every cycle