Crypto News Today: Bitcoin Hashrate Hits 7-Month High; Starknet Votes

Bitcoin’s seven-day average hashrate climbed above 1 zettahash per second for the first time since March 3, reaching a seven-month high as competition among miners intensifies despite large mining companies redirecting computing resources toward AI. BlocksBridge Consulting said new capacity is replacing the hashrate leaving the network.

Mining difficulty rose 5.92% on Oct. 16, and BlocksBridge projects another 5.16% increase at the next adjustment. That would amount to an 11.4% rise across two periods, making Bitcoin mining more difficult. Publicly traded mining companies have reported a 23% decline in realized hashrate, while their AI-related revenue increased 52% quarter over quarter. BlocksBridge estimates that $1.5 billion worth of mining equipment has been displaced by the AI transition, potentially allowing smaller miners with cheaper electricity to expand.

Starknet voters also backed research into turning the network into an independent, post-quantum layer-1 blockchain. The seven-day, nonbinding poll drew approximately 3,200 votes, with 93.52% of voting power supporting the proposal. StarkWare abstained and cited the record governance participation, while the Starknet Foundation can now begin research. Any actual transition away from Ethereum would still require a separate binding vote.

In cybersecurity news, the PHP Foundation acknowledged delays in patching a critical security vulnerability that caused government websites to go offline. The incident adds to ongoing scrutiny of public-sector systems and the availability of timely security updates.