Bitcoin’s mining sector is under growing strain as hash prices — the expected daily revenue per unit of computational power — approach levels that could force smaller operations offline.
The hash price currently sits around $42 per petahash per second (PH/s), down from above $62 per PH/s in July.
Industry analysts warn that such levels may prompt marginal miners to shut down their rigs.
Supply chain effects
The falling hash price has also affected mining hardware providers, who are filling fewer orders for struggling miners.
Bitcoin-denominated sales have suffered as hardware prices drop following the October market crash.
Manufacturers like Bitdeer have started self-mining operations to offset declining hardware demand.
Miners pivot to AI and compute services
Thin profit margins, high capital expenditure, and rising energy costs have pushed many miners to pivot into AI and high-performance computing data centers.
This shift has generated billions in revenue for companies transitioning from traditional Bitcoin mining.
Bitcoin halving events also pressure miners, cutting rewards by 50% approximately every four years while computational and electricity demands increase.
Following the April 2024 halving, the block reward dropped to 3.125 BTC, requiring specialized ASIC hardware for mining.
Companies like Cipher Mining and IREN have diversified into providing GPU and compute power to Amazon Web Services and Microsoft, respectively, through multi-billion-dollar contracts.
These partnerships illustrate how miners are adapting to maintain profitability in a challenging environment.
