Economics
How Mining Difficulty Affects Your Profits
How Mining Difficulty Affects Your Profits. At 15% annual growth, you earn 25% of Year 1 coins by Year 10. But difficulty rises because prices rise.
As more miners join a network, the difficulty increases and each miner earns fewer coins. This is the most overlooked risk in mining.
| Scenario | Annual Difficulty Growth | Year 5 Coins (% of Year 1) | Year 10 Coins |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🟢 Optimistic | 5% | 82% | 64% |
| 🟡 Base Case | 15% | 57% | 28% |
| 🔴 Conservative | 30% | 35% | 9% |
The silver lining: Difficulty increases usually correlate with price increases. More miners join because coins become more valuable. The calculator accounts for this using the Base Case (15% annual growth) as the default.
ℹ️ You can test the impact yourself — use the Difficulty Scenario toggle in the calculator to see how different growth rates affect your 10-year projections.