About 20% of the Bitcoin mining industry is operating at a loss right now. That single fact explains much of what has been unfolding across the sector in early 2026, as publicly traded miners race to sell off holdings just to keep the lights on. Related Reading: Bitcoin Rally Faces First Test At $76K As Sellers Step In: Analysts Profits Squeezed To The Bone Hashprice — the daily revenue a miner earns per unit of computing power — has been sliding since July 2025. It now sits at roughly $33 per petahash per second per day, according to data from Hashrate Index. The breakeven point for many miners, particularly those running older machines, is around $35. That gap, small as it looks on paper, is pushing a large chunk of the industry into the red. Major publicly traded miners — among them MARA, CleanSpark, Riot, Cango, Core Scientific, and Bitdeer — collectively offloaded more than 32,000 BTC during the first three months of 2026, according to TheEnergyMag. That figure eclipses everything those same companies sold across all four quarters of 2025. It also surpasses the previous quarterly record of roughly 20,000 BTC, set during Q2 2022 when the collapse of the Terra-Luna ecosystem sent markets into a tailspin. Three compounding forces drove miners to that record: a rising network hashrate that has made competition fiercer, reduced block rewards following the most recent halving, and broader economic headwinds that have kept Bitcoin prices under pressure. Miner Reserves Have Been Draining For Years The selling in Q1 2026 did not come out of nowhere. Data from CryptoQuant shows that total Bitcoin held by miners across the board has been falling since 2023. At the close of that year, miners collectively held more than 1.86 million BTC. That number has since dropped to approximately 1.8 million. The trend is slow but steady — and the first quarter’s record sales may have accelerated it further. Asset manager CoinShares, in its Q1 2026 Bitcoin Mining Report, warned that more pain could be coming. Higher-cost operators should expect continued capitulation in the first half of this year, the firm said, unless Bitcoin’s price stages a meaningful recovery. Think ₿igger. pic.twitter.com/L1yH3n0k7t — Michael Saylor (@saylor) April 12, 2026 Related Reading: ‘Extremely Good News’ – XRP DeFi Momentum Builds As SEC Softens Position On Interfaces Treasury Buyers Step In As Miners Step Back While miners sell, corporate buyers are moving in the opposite direction. Strategy, the largest Bitcoin treasury company by holdings, has continued adding to its position. Co-founder Michael Saylor signaled earlier this week that another purchase was in the works, sharing the company’s BTC acquisition history chart — a move his followers have come to read as a near-certain signal of an imminent buy. Featured image from MetaAI, chart from TradingView
The US, Russia and China together control over 65% of global Bitcoin hashrate, a reminder that mining power remains heavily concentrated even as local shocks push smaller markets up and down. Related Reading: Bitcoin Mood Sours To Levels Not Seen Since Late February In that mix, Iran has seen a sharp fall. Its hashrate dropped about 77% in the past quarter, to roughly 2 EH/s, after months of conflict and disruption. Iran’s Share Drops Fast According to a report from Hashrate Index, Iran lost about 7 EH/s quarter over quarter. The decline came during a period of rising tension with the US and Israel, with strikes and retaliation driving instability across the region. Even so, the pullback did not spread in the same way to nearby mining hubs. The United Arab Emirates and Oman were reported to have stayed stable. Source: Hashrate Index The report framed the change as a local hit rather than a network-wide threat. Global hashrate remained near 1,000 EH/s, which means the Bitcoin network kept working with little sign of strain. That is partly because no single region has enough mining power to threaten continuity on its own. When one place weakens, other places can absorb the load. Iran’s drop also comes with a large miner count behind it. The country is estimated to have about 427,000 active Bitcoin mining rigs. Those machines do not all run at the same efficiency, and many older units have been forced out as margins tighten. Price Pressure Hits Miners Everywhere The broader network has also been under pressure. The 30-day simple moving average for global hashrate fell from 1,066 EH/s in the first quarter to about 1,004 EH/s in the second quarter, a drop of 5.8%. The report linked that move to falling Bitcoin prices, not to energy costs or regulation. Bitcoin has fallen more than 45% from its record high of $126,000 set in October. That drop has pushed mining revenue lower and made hash prices hit record lows. At those levels, older machines with efficiency above 25 J/TH can run at a loss and get shut down. The report said about 252 EH/s of marginal capacity is now offline, with much of it tied to older hardware. Related Reading: Underdog Bitcoin Miner Bags $210,000 BTC In Stunning Block Discovery Redistribution, Not Collapse The story the numbers tell is simple. Mining does not stay fixed in one place for long. It moves toward cheaper power, better machines and higher margins. When those conditions fade, rigs are switched off or shipped elsewhere. That is what happened in this case, with Iran taking the biggest hit while the wider network kept moving. Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView
Bitcoin difficulty rebounds to 144.4T as hashrate recovers to 1 ZH/s despite multi year low hashprice.
Bitcoin is now approximately 20% below its estimated average production cost, historically a feature of a bear market.
Shares of mining companies rose last month despite softer bitcoin prices as storms cut the network hashrate and AI optimism grew, the bank said.
Earlier this week, a sweeping US winter storm pushed Bitcoin miners to curtail, pulling a noticeable chunk of computing power off the network in a short window. Data shows a 40% dip in hashrate between Jan. 23 and Jan. 25, with around 455 EH/s going offline, and block production slowing to around 12 minutes for […]
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A fierce winter storm that swept much of the US over the weekend forced large parts of the Bitcoin mining fleet to cut power, leaving the network much weaker for a short time. Related Reading: Bitcoin Whales Are Back: 104K BTC Added As $1M Transfers Surge Reports say power outages and extreme weather pushed some operators to pause or slow their rigs so local grids could breathe. The result was a dramatic, though temporary, fall in the total mining power securing the blockchain. Miners Adjust Power Use According to mining operators on the ground, the pause was intentional. Many farms turned down machines to reduce strain on regional utilities when demand spiked and generation dropped. Abundant Mines, a crypto mining firm headquartered in Oregon, said roughly 40% of global mining capacity went offline in a 24-hour window. That kind of quick scaling back is possible because miners can shut down and restart hardware rapidly, which in some regions acts like a big, flexible electrical load that can be trimmed when needed. Bitcoin Hashrate Just Dropped Below 700 EH/s The likely cause: the winter storm impacting Texas & the southeast, where a large share of US mining happens. Power outages and voluntary grid-stabilization measures have taken miners offline. What this means: – Fewer miners online… pic.twitter.com/j0lv7bU9JN — Abundant Mines (@AbundantMines) January 25, 2026 Hashrate Drop And Quick Recovery Based on reports from mining trackers, network hashrate fell sharply starting Friday and hit a low not seen in seven months by Sunday, dropping to about 663 EH/s. Within a day or so, as crews worked and weather systems moved on, the figure climbed back toward 854 EH/s. Hashrate Index estimates the US supplies nearly 38% of worldwide mining power, so disruptions in the country show up fast in global totals. A federal Energy Information Administration report noted there are more than 130 dedicated crypto mining sites across the US, meaning storms that affect broad regions can hit mining supply in a big way. Bitcoin Price Action Price moved with the headlines but not in a straight line. Based on reports, Bitcoin traded around $88,300 through the volatility, with swings linked to both weather and wider geopolitical strains. BTCUSD now trading at 87,866. Chart: TradingView The market had earlier seen lifts up near $96,000 during episodes of geopolitical tension, while other stretches brought softer prices as macro risks grew. Traders watched carefully; the temporary hashrate dip raised questions about short-term miner revenue, yet it did not trigger a major crash in market value. As the winter storm hits the US, Bitcoin mining companies curtail operations to support the power grid. Their daily Bitcoin production was hit significantly in the last few days. CLSK: 22 bitcoin –> 12 Bitcoin RIOT: 16 –> 3 MARA: 45 –> 7 (more volatile as it mines “solo”)… pic.twitter.com/SzgcbtgQ5V — Julio Moreno (@jjcmoreno) January 26, 2026 Big Miners Felt The Impact Analytics firms noted output from some big US miners fell sharply. Marathon Digital’s daily production was down from 45 coins to seven in one day, and IREN moved from 18 to six, data compiled by market trackers showed. Related Reading: XRP Showing Strength, Analyst Points To $4 Potential CryptoQuant flagged slower daily digs from several major operators as the storm hit. In Texas, reports say miners worked with grid managers to help balance supply and demand, using their machines to soak up extra power when available and to step back when the grid was under strain. Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView
The hashrate shock from extreme weather in the U.S. revives a historically bullish onchain indicator.
The temporary loss of mining power underscores academic concerns that geographic and pool concentration can magnify infrastructure failures, though markets showed little immediate reaction.
Bitcoin mining difficulty set for a 4% decline, the seventh negative adjustment in the past eight.
U.S.-listed bitcoin miners entered 2026 with rising revenues, improving margins and recovering valuations, setting a more constructive near-term backdrop.
Mining profitability also declined last month, with daily block reward revenue down 7%, and 32% year-on-year.
VanEck data shows declining bitcoin mining activity has historically preceded strong returns in bitcoin.
Roughly 400,000 bitcoin mining machines shut down in China, according to former Canaan chairman.
According to CoinWarz, the next difficulty adjustment is expected at block 927,360, moving the target from 149 trillion to close to 150 trillion. That is a modest rise, but it matters because Bitcoin miners are already working with very thin margins. Hashpower is strong enough to push difficulty up even while returns stay near record lows. Related Reading: Bitcoin’s November Slump Could Trigger A 2026 Revival, Analysts Say Hashprice Sits Near Break-Even Hashrate Index data shows hashprice is hovering around $38.3 PH/s per day, a touch up from a recent trough below $35 PH/s on November 21. Reports indicate that $40 PH/s is roughly the break-even level for many operations. When revenue per petahash drifts under that mark, some miners face a hard choice as they usher in December: switch off rigs or keep paying to mine. Average block times have been close to the 10-minute goal, with the network recently averaging about 9.97 minutes, which helped trigger the most recent adjustment that dropped difficulty from 152.2 trillion to 149.3 trillion. Hardware, Politics And Supply Risks Reports have disclosed a US Department of Homeland Security probe into Bitmain, the China-based ASIC maker, over concerns its machines could be accessed remotely. Bitmain is reported to control about 80% of the ASIC market, according to the University of Cambridge. That market concentration leaves the industry vulnerable. If US officials impose restrictions, tariffs, or other limits, miners could face higher hardware costs and slower deliveries. Some equipment orders might be delayed or rerouted, and expansion plans would be tested. China Unlikely To End Bitcoin Mining Ban Despite Uptick Meanwhile, overseas, a mild uptick in China’s bitcoin mining has led some scholars to urge Beijing to relax its ban so miners can use excess energy, but experts say a formal reversal is unlikely. Related Reading: 320 Ether On The Move: Bhutan Ramps Up Its Staking Game According to Hashrate Index, China’s share of global hash rate rose from 13.75% in Q1 2025 to 14% in the current quarter, placing it third behind the US and Russia. Historical data from the Cambridge index shows China’s hash rate fell to zero in July 2021 before unofficial activity pushed it back to 22.29% by September 2021; Cambridge stopped updating its mining map in February 2022. Beijing has tightened rules on crypto in recent years, arguing such activity disrupts financial order and can enable illegal behavior. Experts believe those political and policy concerns make an official lift of the mining ban unlikely, despite the recent rise in activity. Featured image from Getty Images, chart from TradingView
A historically reliable bottom signal appears after bitcoin’s 35% correction.
Bitcoin’s hashrate is near record levels, yet miner revenue per unit of compute has fallen to record lows, pushing the network into a ‘high-security, low-profitability’ phase. While the network’s hashrate has pinned itself above the one-zettahash watermark, which is a record for aggregate computing power, the revenue underpinning that security has disintegrated to historic lows. […]
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Hashprice drops to $43.1 PH/s as bitcoin’s price correction, low fees and record hash rate squeeze miners’ margins.
The monthly average network hashrate, a proxy for competition in the industry and mining difficulty, rose 5% to 1,082 EH/s.
According to macro analyst Jordi Visser, dormant bitcoin is moving again and new buyers are stepping in. Visser spoke on Anthony Pompliano’s podcast and wrote about the trend on Substack, saying old holders are slowly selling while fresh investors pick up coins on dips. He compared what’s happening to an IPO (initial public offering), where early backers cash out and ownership spreads to a wider group. Related Reading: Dogecoin Enters The Big Leagues — Stadium And Jerseys Get A Crypto Makeover Price Action Has Been Flat And Frustrating Bitcoin traded between $109,000+ and $110,500+ over the last seven days, a range that has left traders impatient. Reports show the Crypto Fear & Greed Index returned “fear” readings since Wednesday and averaged fear during the prior week. Yet every pullback has been met by buyers, which suggests accumulation is taking place even as sentiment reads poorly. Network Signals Remain Strong Visser pointed to several industry signals as evidence that this is not a collapse. ETF approvals keep arriving, the bitcoin network hashrate has hit new highs, and stablecoin activity is growing. It was a busy week with many macro catalysts (Us-China, Fed, Mag7 earnings and Zelle/Stabledoins). Pomp and I go through it all and how the last two months look for assets. https://t.co/1mv6FCNYGF — Jordi Visser (@jvisserlabs) November 1, 2025 Those facts are being cited by analysts who argue the market is redistributing holdings rather than unraveling. In other words, supply is moving from long-idle wallets into hands that buy on weakness. What This Means For Volatility Based on Visser’s view, the current phase could continue for some time. He estimates an IPO-like cycle can last about six to 18 months in traditional markets, and while bitcoin moves faster, the process may still stretch toward the six-month mark on his timeline. When distribution finishes, one likely result is lower volatility, because ownership will be scattered across more participants instead of concentrated among early believers. No Loud Signal Expected To Mark The Shift Reports have disclosed that the change may not start with a big breakout or collapse. Instead, the market could simply stop grinding and begin a clearer move as distribution completes. That lack of a single trigger is frustrating for traders who want a clear sign, but it is familiar to anyone who has watched post-IPO stocks settle after lock-up expiries. Related Reading: Dogecoin Flashback: Mirror Move Hints At Record-Breaking Surge A Measured Take On The Market Visser’s interpretation is cautious rather than bullish hype. He does not promise a rapid rally. He points to steady on-chain activity and institutional interest as the backbone supporting his thesis. Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView
Bitcoin mining margins tightened in September as a rising network hashrate and a slide in BTC prices dragged profitability lowe
The total market cap of the 14 U.S.-listed bitcoin miners that the bank covers rose 41% from the end of last month to a record $79 billion.
The bitcoin miner produced 629 bitcoin in September, and sold 445 tokens for about $49 million.
A soaring hash rate has pushed difficulty to 150.84T, leaving miners facing shrinking profitability.
The average network hashrate rose 9% to an average of 1,031 EH/s last month, according to the bank.
On Sep. 23, Bitcoin’s hashrate set a new all-time high of 1,073 EH/s. Over the last month, raw compute rose about 21%. Over the last quarter, roughly 70%. Over the last year, the curve went vertical, up around 675%. Hashrate used to be a chart for miners and protocol nerds. Now it reads like a […]
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U.S.-listed mining companies accounted for 26% of the Bitcoin network last month, unchanged from July, the report said.
Milestone reached on the seven day moving average highlights accelerating network growth and sets stage for a major difficulty adjustment.
The combined hashrate of the 13 U.S.-listed miners the bank tracks now accounts for a record high 33.6% of the global network.
Bitcoin's hashrate collapse triggers a projected 9% difficulty adjustment, offering miners temporary relief amid seasonal and post-halving pressure.