Bitcoin Miners’ Hashrate Drops 13.4% as AI Infrastructure Revenue Rises

Public Bitcoin miners are trimming capacity faster than the network itself, according to a BlocksBridge Consulting analysis shared in the Miner Weekly newsletter. The data points to a gradual redeployment of electricity, sites, and operational expertise toward data centers and high-performance computing (HPC)—a key shift in the sector’s business model.

BlocksBridge reported that realized hashrate among a cohort of public miners fell from 368.3 exahashes per second (EH/s) in Q4 2025 to 319 EH/s in Q2 2026, a 13.4% decline. The pullback was steeper when excluding Bitdeer, which continued to grow.

Key takeaways

Realized hashrate among public Bitcoin miners dropped 13.4% from Q4 2025 to Q2 2026, according to BlocksBridge’s Miner Weekly cohort. Without Bitdeer, the cohort’s realized hashrate fell 21.2%, indicating that most operators contracted more aggressively. Bitdeer was an outlier: its realized hashrate rose 44% to 63 EH/s during the same period. Bitcoin network average hashrate declined 10.6% over the same six months, suggesting miners’ reductions outpaced the broader network. Several miners are increasingly deriving revenue from non-mining activities such as colocation and HPC leasing.

Miners shrink capacity faster than the network

BlocksBridge’s latest Miner Weekly update frames the change as part of a longer transition underway in the mining industry. In its reported cohort, realized hashrate decreased from 368.3 EH/s in Q4 2025 to 319 EH/s in Q2 2026. When Bitdeer is removed from the comparison, the decline becomes more pronounced: realized hashrate drops from 324.6 EH/s to 255.9 EH/s, or 21.2%, across the six-month span.

Bitdeer’s figures diverge sharply from the rest. BlocksBridge reported that Bitdeer’s realized hashrate increased 44% to 63 EH/s, highlighting how competitive dynamics among public miners have started to split between those expanding and those contracting.

For context, BlocksBridge also noted that the Bitcoin network’s average hashrate fell 10.6% over the same period. The gap—miners reducing faster than the network—matters because it can signal that some operators are prioritizing other uses for capital and power rather than continuing to chase mining economics.

Why non-mining revenue is becoming more central

Alongside the capacity pullback, the sector’s revenue mix is shifting. The article points to growing contributions from non-mining activities—particularly colocation and HPC leasing—at miners that have positioned their power and infrastructure for broader technology demand.

In an example highlighted alongside the hashrate data, Core Scientific generated $136.7 million in colocation revenue in Q2, compared with $27.5 million from Bitcoin mining. Similarly, TeraWulf reported $31.9 million in HPC lease revenue versus $12.8 million from mining.

While the specific companies referenced show the trend clearly, the overall message is broader: the economics of mining alone are not carrying the same weight they once did. For investors and market observers, that shift changes how to interpret operational performance. Realized hashrate trends may no longer map cleanly to profitability if more of a miner’s earnings depends on leasing, hosting, or AI-related workloads rather than block rewards and transaction fees.

The post-2021 mining migration is losing momentum

BlocksBridge attributed the current slowdown to the unwinding of the expansion cycle that followed China’s 2021 Bitcoin mining ban. That policy shock triggered one of the most dramatic hashrate declines in Bitcoin’s history, followed by a recovery as miners relocated overseas.

North America became a key destination, where migration and new operational capacity supported an expansion among public miners. The analysis frames that phase as a capital-raising and build-out period—one characterized by power-site acquisitions and a push to scale mining infrastructure.

However, the newsletter argues that after a halving cycle, conditions look materially different. Weaker mining profitability is paired with escalating demand for AI infrastructure since 2022, creating incentives for some public miners to repurpose sites and shift power capacity away from Bitcoin mining entirely.

That doesn’t mean the mining business is disappearing, but it does suggest a structural change in priorities. Instead of simply competing to add more hashpower during favorable windows, operators are increasingly treating their electricity access and data-center capabilities as an asset that can serve multiple markets.

What to watch next: divergence among operators

The most important signal in the BlocksBridge report is divergence. Bitdeer’s continued realized hashrate expansion contrasts with more aggressive contraction from other public miners in the cohort, while Bitcoin network hashrate overall falls more moderately. For readers tracking the sector, the next question is whether the gap between “expanding” and “contracting” operators persists as electricity costs, hosting demand, and AI workloads evolve.

As more miners report meaningful revenue from colocation and HPC leasing, future comparisons may need to focus less on how quickly companies add or remove mining equipment and more on whether their non-mining services can sustainably offset changes in mining profitability.

This article was originally published as Bitcoin Miners’ Hashrate Drops 13.4% as AI Infrastructure Revenue Rises on Crypto Breaking News – your trusted source for crypto news, Bitcoin news, and blockchain updates.