News · Oct 17, 2026 · 4 min read
Bitcoin today: difficulty up 5.9%, Schwab opens crypto to all clients, Brent at $110
Mining difficulty rose 5.92% on 16 October, the third-largest increase of 2026, and every machine now earns about 5.6% fewer coins. Schwab opened bitcoin trading to all its eligible US clients, and oil closed at its highest since May.
Difficulty rose 5.92%, to its highest level since 5 March
The network's mining difficulty adjusted at block 971,712 at 12:37 UTC on Friday 16 October, up 5.92% from 132.72 trillion to 140.58 trillion, according to our difficulty adjustments series and Bitcoin.com News. It is the highest reading since the 145.04 trillion set on 5 March.
Blocks in the last two weeks arrived every 9.4 minutes on average against a target of ten, which is what pushes the target up. It is the third-largest increase of 2026, behind +14.73% on 19 February and +7.15% on 27 June. We covered the run-up in blocks ran 6% fast for two weeks.
Difficulty is now higher than at any point since 5 March.
Schwab opened bitcoin and ether trading to every eligible US client
Charles Schwab said on 16 October that Schwab Crypto is now open to all eligible retail clients, after a limited rollout that began in May, Crypto Times reported, citing the firm's post on X. Clients can buy and sell bitcoin and ether for a flat 0.75% per transaction, with Paxos providing custody, execution and settlement through Charles Schwab Premier Bank.
The service is available in most US states, excluding New York and Louisiana. Schwab has not said how many clients have opened accounts. For bitcoin it is one more regulated door for ordinary savers to buy the coin itself, alongside the US spot ETFs.
Brent closed at $109.86, its highest since 19 May
Brent crude rose 3.7% on Friday to settle at $109.86 a barrel, after touching $110 for the first time since May, MercoPress reported. US crude rose 3.5% to $101.41. The consultancy Kpler said "Intensified Iranian attacks drove Gulf crude flows sharply lower", and prices rebounded after the Saudi-led coalition said it had destroyed a ballistic missile aimed at the Red Sea port of Yanbu.
Oil has been the thread running through bitcoin's last two weeks, as in oil above $100 pushes bitcoin under $84,000. Bitcoin read $83,094 on 14 October and $81,532 on 17 October, a fall of 1.9%.
The ETFs lost $261 million, then paused
The US spot bitcoin ETFs saw $261 million flow out on 14 October and $5 million flow in on 15 October, on our flows series. They held 1,288,515 bitcoin on 16 October, up from 1,287,144 on 12 October. The 16 October flow is not yet in our series.
In futures, $57 million of longs and $25 million of shorts were force-closed on 16 October on our liquidations chart, a quiet day after the $167 million of longs lost on 15 October.
What it means for miners
A 5.92% rise in difficulty takes about 5.6% off the coins every machine earns, all else equal, from 16 October. Our hashprice chart read 0.000477 bitcoin per petahash per day before the retarget, about $38.87 at $81,532, and that figure has not yet absorbed the step.
This is where efficiency counts. The most efficient machine we stock, the Antminer S23 XP Hyd at 8.9 J/TH, makes a bitcoin for about $17,900 of electricity at Nigeria's 3.9¢ on that pre-retarget hashprice, and about $19,000 after it, against a market price of about $81,500. That is electricity only, and output is not guaranteed.
Each step up in difficulty is the network growing, and it widens the gap between a coin made on efficient machines on cheap power and a coin bought. The coins already in the wallet are the ones that do not need to be made again.
About $19,000 to make a bitcoin on the best machine, about $81,500 to buy one.
Sources and further reading
- Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Jumps 5.92% in Third-Largest Hike of 2026 — Bitcoin.com News, 16 Oct 2026
- Charles Schwab Expands Crypto Services With Paxos Infrastructure — Crypto Times, 16 Oct 2026
- Brent touches US$110 for the first time since May on Middle East tensions — MercoPress, 17 Oct 2026
Disclosure
Firsthand Bitcoin sells and hosts mining hardware, including this machine. No manufacturer, distributor or affiliate programme paid for or reviewed this page and we take no commission on the links above. Historical figures are computed from daily bitcoin price and network hashprice, each day valued at its own prices. Nothing here is investment advice.