Combined AUM of gold and Bitcoin ETFs has crossed $500 billion, with BTC mining difficulty hitting all-time highs.
The Bitcoin BTC $114 982 24h volatility: 0.5% Market cap: $2.29 T Vol. 24h: $31.78 B mining difficulty climbed to a record high of 127.6 trillion this week, making it harder than ever to mine new BTC. Miners now need more computing power to solve the puzzles required to validate transactions and earn rewards.
However, a slight drop of around 3% is expected on August 9, bringing the difficulty down to about 123.7 trillion, according to data from CoinWarz.
This adjustment is part of Bitcoin’s built-in system that keeps block production steady, even as miner participation changes.
Rising Miner Participation Signals Growing Competition
The increase in mining difficulty shows that more miners are joining the network, boosting security and decentralization. This trend reversed a brief decline in June, when the difficulty dropped to 116.9 trillion.
JUST IN: $BTC MINING DIFFICULTY HITS NEW ALL-TIME HIGH
Source: @BTCTN https://t.co/pGDB8M1ACN pic.twitter.com/ktIz0ey3U0
— Mario Nawfal’s Roundtable (@RoundtableSpace) August 4, 2025
Since then, the network has recovered strongly, with miners clearly willing to compete in the more demanding environment.
Profitability Remains Unchanged
Surprisingly, the rising difficulty hasn’t hurt miner earnings. In fact, profits have reached a post-halving high of $52.63 million per exahash per day.
This suggests either that miners are using more efficient machines or that strong Bitcoin prices are helping to offset the extra competition. Normally, higher difficulty makes it harder to earn rewards, but this time, miners are still doing well.
At the same time, the amount of Bitcoin flowing out of miners’ wallets has dropped sharply. According to the latest data, the 7-day moving average of miner outflows is down nearly 49%, with just 0.61 BTC being moved on average.
This suggests miners are not selling much of their holdings, possibly because they expect prices to go further up or are already profitable enough to hold onto their coins.
ETFs Hitting a Historic Milestone
For the first time, the combined assets under management (AUM) of gold and Bitcoin ETFs have passed $500 billion, as per The Bold Report.
Gold ETFs account for about $325 billion, while Bitcoin ETFs have soared to $162 billion, up from just $20 billion before US spot bitcoin ETFs were launched.
The sharp rise shows growing interest from institutional investors and highlights Bitcoin’s expanding role in the global financial market.
Since the launch of these US spot ETFs, Bitcoin’s price has jumped roughly 175%, compared to gold’s 66% gain. The difference reflects Bitcoin’s higher growth potential and its greater volatility.
The rapid rise in ETF investments shows that more investors see Bitcoin as a serious asset and possibly the best crypto to buy, worth holding alongside gold.
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