Bitcoin Miners Struggle with Rising Costs Amidst AI-Powered Shift
Bitcoin miners are facing significant breakeven pressure due to rising cash costs and compressed margins. According to CoinShares, the weighted average cash cost to produce one Bitcoin among publicly listed miners reached approximately $79,995 in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Hashprice, which measures revenue per unit of computing power per day, dropped sharply between late 2025 and early 2026, falling from $36-$38 per petahash per second per day to a post-halving low of $28-$30. As of the report's publication, hashprice had recovered slightly to around $33 per PH/s/day.
CoinShares estimates that between 15% and 20% of the global Bitcoin mining fleet remains unprofitable at this level, with older hardware or high electricity costs being major contributors to their struggles. The pressure on miners comes after a particularly difficult quarter for the industry, marked by three consecutive negative difficulty adjustments and a network hash rate peak.