The Bitcoin network has reached a groundbreaking milestone. For the first time in its 16-year history, the hashrate surged past 1 Zetahash per second (ZH/s), underscoring its position as one of the most powerful distributed computing systems in the world.
According to mempool.space, Bitcoin’s hashrate peaked at 1.025 ZH/s on April 5. BTC Frame reported a slightly earlier spike, noting a 1.02 ZH/s high on April 4. Meanwhile, Coinwarz data showed an even higher reading of 1.1 ZH/s at block height 890,915. That same data indicates the hashrate may have first surpassed 1 ZH/s on March 24.
Why the Discrepancy in Reported Hashrate?
Different blockchain data platforms show varied hashrate figures due to differences in methodology. These include:
- The number of blocks used to estimate hashrate averages
- Data sources such as mining pools and Bitcoin nodes
- Timing of block intervals and difficulty adjustments
Bitcoin advocate Jameson Lopp has previously explained that estimating with just one trailing block instead of five can lead to swings of over 0.04 ZH/s. Mitchell Askew, head analyst at Blockware Solutions, noted that short-term fluctuations can be misleading, pointing to Bitcoin’s 30-day average hashrate, which remains around 0.845 ZH/s.
What Makes 1 ZH/s Such a Big Deal?
This milestone is more than just a number—it represents exponential growth in Bitcoin’s network strength. One Zetahash equals 1,000 Exahashes, and it’s a leap from where Bitcoin stood in early 2016, when it first hit 1 EH/s.
Here’s why hitting 1 ZH/s matters:
- It makes the Bitcoin network significantly more secure against 51% attacks
- It signals greater decentralization and miner participation worldwide
- It highlights the immense computing power now supporting the blockchain
To put things into perspective, Litecoin—the second-largest proof-of-work network—has a hashrate of just 2.49 Petahashes per second. That makes Bitcoin approximately 40,000 times more powerful in computational terms.
While the hashrate briefly dipped back below 0.95 ZH/s as of April 7, the achievement reflects Bitcoin’s expanding infrastructure and long-term resilience.
