Mining Rigs Find New Homes Amid AI-Powered Power Rush
Bitcoin mining has undergone significant changes over the past year, particularly in network hashrate and mining difficulty. In October 2025, network hashrate reached above 1.1 ZH/s before trending lower, and this year it fell back toward 900 EH/s on several occasions. The mining difficulty dropped by 11.16% in a single adjustment in February, followed by another 10.09% decline in June.
Many mining companies are shifting their focus towards AI and high-performance computing (HPC) due to the growing demand for power access that is already in place. Companies like Core Scientific reported a negative 56% gross margin for self-mining in the second quarter, while its data center colocation business generated nearly $80 million in gross profit. TeraWulf's HPC leasing accounted for around 71% of total revenue during the same period.
However, Haipo Yang, CEO of ViaBTC, argues that AI is not taking hashrate away from Bitcoin. He claims that AI and Bitcoin mining are competing for different resources, such as chip capacity, capital, land, power, and existing data center infrastructure. The real competition lies in the ability to access large amounts of reliable power quickly.
Yang points out that many mining companies have already secured land, substations, and grid capacity years ago when these resources were less competitive. AI companies are now willing to pay more for the same infrastructure, making it economically viable for mining to continue.