A decline in hash price caused by Bitcoin’s correction and record network difficulty has pushed a notable share of miners into unprofitability.
The current hash price environment is putting significant pressure on Bitcoin miners’ profits. CoinShares estimates that between 15 and 20 percent of the global mining fleet is operating at a loss, based on a hash price of 28 to 30 dollars per PH per day.
During the fourth quarter of 2025, Bitcoin dropped by nearly 31 percent, falling from an early October all time high close to 126000 dollars to around 86000 dollars by late December. At the same time, the network hash rate stayed near record highs, pushing hash prices down to post halving lows.
Mining at a Loss
According to CoinShares, miners using mid generation hardware, especially models older than the S19 XP, experienced negative cash flow unless they had access to extremely cheap electricity, usually below 0.05 dollars per kilowatt hour. This situation placed roughly one sixth to one fifth of global mining capacity below the break even point, highlighting the strain on older and less efficient operations.
The report shows that the weighted average cost of production for publicly listed miners climbed to 79995 dollars per Bitcoin in the fourth quarter of 2025. This increase was driven by higher electricity costs, greater depreciation linked to new AI and high performance computing infrastructure, and rising network difficulty. With hash prices under pressure, there were three consecutive negative difficulty adjustments in late 2025, a rare trend not seen since July 2022, signaling miner capitulation.
Miners operating legacy S19 series machines were especially affected. Seasonal energy price increases and grid curtailments from ERCOT further reduced profitable mining hours. CoinShares noted that shrinking margins have pushed some miners to diversify their operations. Many are now shifting toward AI and high performance computing workloads, which offer more stable and potentially higher returns compared to the cyclical nature of Bitcoin mining.
Despite these challenges, the network hash rate has remained relatively strong. It reached a peak of about 1160 EH per second in October 2025 before declining by around 10 percent by December and early 2026 due to unprofitable conditions and regulatory inspections in Xinjiang, China.
Miners Reduce Bitcoin Holdings
By early March 2026, the network stabilized at approximately 1020 EH per second. This suggests that well positioned miners with access to low cost energy, government backed support, or next generation ASIC hardware are still operating profitably, even as mid generation fleets struggle. The report also noted that publicly listed miners have reduced their Bitcoin holdings in response to tighter margins, with companies such as Core Scientific, Bitdeer, and Riot selling significant portions of their reserves.
At the same time, any recovery in hash prices remains closely linked to Bitcoin’s market performance. At current levels near 30 dollars per PH per day, only the most efficient miners are profitable, while older operations continue to incur losses. A sustained Bitcoin price above 70000 dollars could ease the pressure, but continued weakness would likely lead to further miner capitulation.#crypto#cryptonews https://coinsignals.net https://t.me/coinsignalpublic
