Bitcoin Miners Flee Traditional Mining as Hash Rate Plummets

The Bitcoin network's mean hash rate has dropped by 19% since November 2025, setting a nine-month record. This decline coincides with a massive migration of miners' capital to AI hosting leases, which may never return.

According to Glassnode data, the current slump is different from previous ones in both its depth and duration. The network has shed over 210 EH/s, more than it had in early 2021. Additionally, the 30-day average shows no sign of a bottom formation heading into August.

The squeeze has already claimed casualties, with Poolin, once the world's largest mining pool, filing for Chapter 11 protection in late July. The current slump is also marked by a negative year-over-year reading in network difficulty, a rare occurrence since China's ban drove the metric to -21.2% in August 2021.

AI hosting contracts are paying significantly more than mining, with prices ranging from 3 to 25 times as much per megawatt. This structural exit may have long-term implications for the network's security budget. If the year-over-year difficulty reading stays negative through autumn, it would confirm a sustained contraction in hashpower.