Bitcoin Miners' Hashrate Drops 21% as Industry Shifts Toward AI and HPC

Public bitcoin miners have significantly reduced their collective hashrate by 21% over the past six months. This decline reflects a shift away from bitcoin mining and toward high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure and artificial intelligence (AI) data centers.

Companies like Core Scientific and TeraWulf, which were previously prominent in the mining space, have seen their revenue grow rapidly due to colocation and HPC leases rather than traditional bitcoin mining. Bitdeer is an exception among miners, expanding its capacity instead of contracting it.

The industry's shift toward AI and HPC infrastructure is driven by weaker mining economics and increasing demand for high-performance computing power. This structural change marks a major transition after years of growth in the U.S. following China's post-mining expansion.