Bitcoin network hash rate hit a record high in May

• Bitcoin network activity climbed for the fifth month straight.
• Mining difficulty and transaction fee also climbed in May.
• The world’s largest cryptocurrency lost about 8.0% last month.

Bitcoin may have lost about 8.0% last month on macro uncertainty but the network activity remained incredibly strong.

JPMorgan analyst expects a slowdown in hash rate

In May, the daily network hash rate – a closely followed metric that indicates network’s health climbed to a record high. It was the fifth consecutive month of increase for the said indicator.

Simply put, larger the hash rate, the more secure is the network. Nonetheless, Reginald Smith – a JPMorgan analyst said in a note on Friday:

Our sense is that network hash rate growth could slow over the coming months (possibly lagging BTC price appreciation) as funding available rack space is hard to come by.

In terms of market cap, the 13 U.S. listed miners that JPMorgan tracks noted an aggregate increase of 5.0% last month to $6.7 billion.

Mining difficulty and transaction fee also increased

Mining difficulty – another metric that typically moves in tandem with the Bitcoin hash rate – also climbed to a record high in May.

Recent data confirmed the crypto transaction fee to have increased last month as well. JPMorgan’s Smith also said in his research note:

Transaction fees spiked to over 5 Bitcoin per block mined in early May, which should drive modest C2Q23 earnings upside for the industry at large.

In recent weeks, though, Bitcoin transaction fees have returned close to its historic average of about 0.5 BTC per block mined. Last week, JPMorgan said Bitcoin should be trading at $45,000.