> I know it's early in the period but is there something going on here?

Variance likely explains a good chunk of it.

Look at the 1 year or 3 year chart ...  "hashrate" (which cannot be directly measured) does not go up or down in a smooth line.

https://www.coinwarz.com/mining/bitcoin/hashrate-chart   

Though many miners have said they are still adding capacity, and some rigs are now being energized for the first time after initial installation.

A 10% rise in difficulty at the next difficulty adjustment would not be all that surprising though.

BTCMiner

Yeah, could be a mining strategy of some kind I guess

joelklabo

Noticed smth similar at the start of the previous epoch. Eventually it flattened out completely. Weird..

badabing

bitcoin

I know it's early in the period but is there something going on here? Only 11% at the moment. 

See on https://mempool.space 