With such lucrative rewards at stake, there is naturally great competition to mine bitcoin, with mining rigs set up around the world. When there is more computing power collectively working to mine for bitcoins, the difficulty level of mining increases in order to keep block production at a stable rate. Less computing power means the difficulty level decreases.
With such increasingly sophisticated mining operations on a growing scale globally, in order to mine competitively, miners must now invest in even more powerful computer equipment. Mining sites also need a perfect combination of stable and affordable electricity and water supply to keep the miners performing at an optimal rate and solve the problems first. Miners are also increasingly energy efficient and powerful.