Public Bitcoin miners cut their realized hashrate by 13.4%, shrinking from 368.3 exahashes per second (EH/s) in the fourth quarter of 2025 to 319 EH/s at the end of the second quarter of 2026. The reduction rate of this group of public companies surpassed the average of the overall Bitcoin network, which was recorded to fall by only 10.6% during the same measurement period.
A report from research firm BlocksBridge Consulting in the latest edition of the Miner Weekly newsletter outlines this shift pattern. The decline in cryptocurrency-specific computing capacity marks the final phase of the expansion cycle that formed following the ban on mining activities in China in 2021. As mining profit margins continue to weaken, the boom in artificial intelligence infrastructure demand starting in 2022 has instead given the industry new breathing room.
Data center facilities and large-scale power allocations originally built purely to run rows of ASIC machines are now beginning to be overhauled. Facility operators prefer to repurpose their energy supply to the high-performance computing (HPC) sector and AI development companies.
An Anomaly Amidst the Downward Trend
The 13.4% shrinkage at the aggregate level of public companies masks a much deeper reduction in the field. This combined calculation was helped by the anomalous performance of just one company. If Bitdeer’s performance is excluded from the total calculation, the hashrate run by the remaining group of public miners plummeted by 21.2% - falling from the 324.6 EH/s level to 255.9 EH/s.
Bitdeer took a step in the opposite direction of its peers. The company increased its hashrate capacity by 44% to reach the 63 EH/s level. Although Bitdeer and its main competitor Riot Platforms still maintain dominant operations in the pure mining arena, business patterns show that both entities have already drawn up transition plans toward computing infrastructure services.
Electricity Flows to the Highest Bidder
The shift in focus from Bitcoin block producers to computing services has a direct impact on financial reports. Publicly traded companies like Core Scientific and TeraWulf now report that non-mining activities have successfully taken the top spot, contributing the majority of their current gross revenue.
This business dynamic highlights the pragmatic nature of crypto mining companies. The high-value infrastructure they operate is essentially a computing power supply and utility management system. When the routine of securing the Bitcoin network no longer yields sufficient margin returns, tens of megawatts of electricity capacity are quickly redirected to serve artificial intelligence clients.
Reported from Cointelegraph.
Read also: What Is Bitcoin Halving?
Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only, not financial advice. Cryptocurrency assets are highly volatile and carry significant risk. Always do your own research (DYOR) and never invest more than you can afford to lose.
