miners

Bitcoin mining has entered a severe phase, with unit hash rate revenue dropping to a historical low of about $35/PH. Affected by a significant market correction, the price of Bitcoin has fallen over 50% from its 2025 peak of $126,000, currently hovering around the $60,000 range. Against this backdrop, the average production cost of a single Bitcoin across the network is approximately $87,000, about 45% higher than the current market price, marking the first large-scale "underwater operation" since the bear market of 2022.CryptoQuant defines the current phase as the "surrender phase," characterized by the accelerated shutdown of old mining machines and a noticeable contraction in overall network hash rate. As a result, the stock prices of listed mining companies such as MARA Holdings and Riot Platforms have dropped over 20% this week, with funds flowing towards more stable traditional assets like gold.Meanwhile, North America's mining hubs (especially Texas) are facing severe winter storms, forcing some mining farms to limit power usage to ensure the stability of the civilian power grid. Coupled with miner exits, the network experienced a historic difficulty adjustment of about 11% on February 9. However, due to the significant drop in coin prices, the profitability recovery effect from the difficulty adjustment is limited.The industry's "Miner Profitability Sustainability Index" has fallen to 21, indicating that, except for a few operators with low electricity costs and high efficiency, most miners have completely compressed profit margins. For companies with electricity prices above $0.05 per kilowatt-hour or those still using older model mining machines, this difficulty adjustment is unlikely to reverse the risk of total shutdown.To cope with the "2026 mining winter," leading companies are accelerating their transition to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC). IREN and Core Scientific have redirected some of their data center power capacity to support generative AI businesses to secure more stable long-term contract revenues. Recently, Bitfarms announced a complete exit from Bitcoin mining to focus on its AI strategic transformation.

According to CoinDesk data, Morgan Stanley analyst Stephen Byrd and his team rated three Bitcoin miners, giving Cipher Mining (CIFR) and TeraWulf (WULF) a "Buy" rating, with target prices set at $38 and $37, respectively.At the same time, they also initiated coverage on Marathon Digital (MARA), giving it a "Sell" rating with a target price of $8.On Monday, CIFR's stock price rose 12.4% to $16.51, WULF's stock price increased by 12.8% to $16.12, and MARA saw a slight increase to $8.28.

According to Coindesk, data from Checkonchain shows that the current price of Bitcoin is around $70,000, which is below its estimated average production cost of about $87,000, a gap of approximately 20%. Historically, Bitcoin prices remaining below production costs is often a characteristic of bear markets, a similar situation was seen in the market cycles of 2019 and 2022.The total network hash rate reached a historical peak of about 1.1 ZH/s last October but has since dropped by about 20% due to the shutdown of less efficient mining machines, recently rebounding to 913 EH/s, showing initial signs of stabilization. However, at the current price, many miners are still in a state of loss. To maintain daily operations, pay energy costs, and service debts, miners are continuously selling their Bitcoin reserves, a phenomenon known as "miner capitulation," highlighting that the industry still faces ongoing financial pressure.

According to Antpool data, based on the current Bitcoin mining difficulty and an electricity price of $0.08 per kWh, mining machines including Antminer S19 XP+ Hyd, Bitmain M60S, and Avalon A1466I have reached the shutdown coin price. The Antminer S21 series (S21, S21+, S21 Hyd.) is close to the shutdown coin price, ranging from approximately $69,000 to $74,000.In addition, high-performance mining machines such as Antminer U3S23H and Antminer S23 Hyd have a shutdown coin price above $44,000.

According to The Block, the widespread winter storm "Fernan" in the United States has forced Bitcoin miners to significantly reduce production to alleviate pressure on the power grid. The hashrate of the Foundry USA mining pool has dropped by about 60% since last Friday, from 328 EH/s to 139 EH/s. Approximately 200 EH/s of hashrate has gone offline across the network, causing Bitcoin block production time to extend from the standard 10 minutes to 12.4 minutes.This extreme weather has left over a million residents without power, and grid operators have issued energy-saving alerts. Other North American mining pools, such as Luxor, have also seen a noticeable decline in hashrate. The next Bitcoin difficulty adjustment is expected to decrease by about 15% to restore the pace of block production.

According to Cointelegraph, the Bitcoin network's hash rate has fallen below 1,000 EH/s for the first time since mid-September, and analysts believe this decline is related to the growing interest in artificial intelligence (AI) in the market.According to Hashrate Index data, the 7-day moving average of Bitcoin's hash rate is currently 993 EH/s, having dropped below 1,000 EH/s last Saturday. Compared to the 7-day average peak of 1,157 EH/s recorded on October 19, the hash rate has decreased by nearly 15%. Leon Lyu, CEO and founder of StandardHash, attributed the decline in Bitcoin's hash rate to miners reallocating their hash power to AI computing services in pursuit of higher profit margins in an article posted on X on Monday.

Two independent miners mined Bitcoin blocks this week, each receiving a full block reward worth approximately $300,000. One miner produced a block earlier on Thursday and received 3.157 Bitcoins, including transaction fees, while the other miner received a reward worth about $295,000 earlier this week. Currently, the Bitcoin mining market is dominated by large mining pools such as Foundry USA, AntPool, and F2Pool, making it less likely for independent miners to produce blocks. Recently, the market share of the U.S. mining sector has declined, and some publicly listed mining companies have shifted their computing power towards AI and high-performance computing.

According to data from Digital Mining Solutions, in 2025, the Bitcoin network will have a total of 36 blocks mined by independent miners.These independent miners can receive a block reward of 3.125 BTC.

Bitcoin's hash rate has decreased by 4% in a month, and miner capitulation has historically been a bullish counter signal. Matt Sigel, head of crypto research at VanEck, along with senior investment analyst Patrick Bush, pointed out that since 2014, when the current hash rate has declined over the past 30 days, the probability of Bitcoin's 90-day forward return being positive is 65%.The current trading price of Bitcoin is $88,400, down nearly 30% from its historical high. Additionally, the breakeven electricity price for the Bitmain S19 XP miner has dropped from $0.12/kWh to $0.077/kWh. Analysts state that the decline in hash rate may be driven by China shutting down about 1.3 gigawatts of mining capacity, with some of the power potentially redirected to meet AI demands. Currently, 13 countries, including Russia and Japan, still support Bitcoin mining.

According to Bitcoin News, Bitcoin miners are facing the risk of capitulation, as their income has diverged from mining difficulty, with earnings declining by 11% since mid-October.

According to CriptoNoticias, the Paraguayan Chamber of Deputies approved two resolutions on December 4, requesting information on cryptocurrency mining activities. The resolutions were proposed by Deputy María Constancia Benítez and aim to strengthen control, transparency, and regulation over the rapidly expanding mining industry.According to the resolutions, relevant agencies are required to submit reports within 15 days. The first resolution requests the Ministry of Industry and Trade to provide information on individuals and companies registered for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency mining; the second resolution requests the National Electricity Administration (ANDE) to provide a list of all authorized electricity connections for cryptocurrency mining, including the names of responsible individuals and installation locations.According to Hashrate Index data, Paraguay currently controls about 3.9% of the global hash rate, ranking fourth in the world, behind the United States, Russia, and China. The country has become a popular destination for international miners due to its advantage of surplus hydroelectric power.

JPMorgan analysts believe that for the recent price trends of Bitcoin, the resilience of Strategy (stock code MSTR) is more important than miner activity. Although the world's largest Bitcoin holder has not yet begun to sell, Bitcoin miners seem to be facing increasing selling pressure.JPMorgan Managing Director Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou and his team noted in a report on Wednesday that the recent pressure on Bitcoin prices is mainly due to two factors: first, the recent decline in Bitcoin network hash rate and mining difficulty; second, the latest developments surrounding Strategy. Analysts stated that the decline in hash rate and mining difficulty reflects the influence of two forces: China's reaffirmation of its ban on Bitcoin mining following a surge in private mining activities, and the low Bitcoin prices combined with high energy costs squeezing profits, leading to the exit of high-cost miners outside of China.Analysts pointed out that while a decline in hash rate typically increases miner revenue, "Bitcoin prices are currently still hovering below their production costs," which brings selling pressure to the Bitcoin market. JPMorgan analysts have currently revised their estimate of Bitcoin's production cost down to $90,000, from $94,000 last month. According to analysts, this update is based on an electricity price assumption of $0.05 per kilowatt-hour, and for high-cost producers, every increase of $0.01 per kilowatt-hour will raise their production costs by $18,000.JPMorgan's report stated: "Against the backdrop of high electricity prices and low Bitcoin prices squeezing profits, some high-cost miners have been forced to sell Bitcoin in recent weeks."

Cointelegraph posted on the X platform that Bitcoin miners are shutting down their mining machines as hash income has dropped to about $35 / PH / day, while total costs are around $44 / PH / day.

The Malaysian authorities are actively cracking down on illegal Bitcoin mining activities, which are reported to have caused up to $1 billion in electricity theft losses.Law enforcement agencies are employing a strategy that combines high-tech and traditional methods, including using drones to detect abnormal heat sources, handheld sensors to detect irregular electricity usage, and responding to residents' reports of strange noises. It has been reported that some illegal miners even use natural bird calls to mask the noise of mining equipment. This crackdown has evolved into a "cat-and-mouse game," involving raids on shops and abandoned houses. The Malaysian government will continue to strengthen regulations to curb this increasingly serious problem.

According to Cryptopolitan, Oleg Ogienko, a member of the Russian State Duma's working group on cryptocurrency regulations, proposed at the recent Digital Almaz forum that an amnesty policy should be implemented for cryptocurrency miners using illegally imported equipment, in order to transition this group of underground practitioners, which accounts for 60% of the total miners in the country, into legal operations.Ogienko pointed out that although Russia has legalized mining through legislation this year, the lack of amnesty provisions for illegally imported equipment has hindered miners from registering with the Federal Tax Service. Currently, only about 150 mining farms and 1,300 mining entities nationwide have completed registration. In regions with abundant electricity, such as Siberia, there has been a strain on power supply due to the excessive concentration of mining farms, leading to mining bans being issued in more than a dozen regions this year.Russian law enforcement agencies and power companies are conducting nationwide raids, using technological means to locate illegal mining operations. This amnesty proposal aims to bring underground miners into the regulatory framework, alleviate enforcement pressure, and increase tax revenue.

According to the latest data from CoinWarz, influenced by fluctuations in the overall network hash rate and a slight rebound in coin prices, the daily mining revenue of Zcash (ZEC) has seen a mild increase. Currently, the average daily output revenue has slightly improved compared to the previous day, and miner sentiment is stabilizing in the short term.The current mining difficulty of the ZEC network is 154.26 M, close to its historical high level.

According to Antpool data, under the current Bitcoin mining difficulty and an electricity cost of $0.08 per kWh, Antminer S19 series and models below the Whatsminer M60 (including M53S++, M56S++) have reached their shutdown price;Meanwhile, the shutdown price for Whatsminer M60 and M66 series is also close to $93,000.In addition, high-performance models such as Antminer U 3S23H and Antminer S23 Hyd have a shutdown price above $44,000.