Bitcoin drops to $8,400 as network hashrate experiences sharp drop

Bitcoin experienced a sudden price plunge, sliding from around $9,400 to $8,300 within a few minutes before stabilizing near $8,500. Other major digital assets, including Ethereum and Ripple, were also affected by the broader market downturn. Despite the steep decline to levels not seen since mid-June, Bitcoin remained up by roughly $4,600 since the beginning of the year.

The price drop coincided with an unexplained 40% fall in the Bitcoin network's hashrate, which fell from approximately 98 EH/s to 57.7 EH/s before recovering to 67 EH/s. The sudden drop came shortly after the computing power reached an all-time high exceeding 100 EH/s on September 18. The cause remains unknown, though competing networks using the same algorithm—such as Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV—did not record hashrate increases that would suggest a migration of miners.

The decline in computational security has raised concerns within the community. Academic Emin Gün Sirer noted that Satoshi Nakamoto's six-block confirmation model assumed an attacker controlling up to 30% of the network power, suggesting that exchanges and direct merchants should raise their confirmation requirements whenever a hashrate drop exceeds 30%.