Bitcoin mining activity has taken its biggest hit since late 2021 after a severe winter storm in the US forced several major mining companies to curtail operations, triggering a sharp drop in network hashrate, production and revenue.
Bitcoin’s overall network hash rate has fallen around 12% since November 11, marking the biggest drop since October 2021, when the network was still recovering from China’s sweeping mining ban.
The hash rate now sits near 970 exahashes per second, the lowest level since September 2025, according to CryptoQuant data.
The decline accelerated this week as extreme weather disrupted power supplies across key US mining hubs.
Several publicly listed miners are temporarily shutting down machines to protect infrastructure and comply with network throttling requests, adding to an already slowing trend that began when bitcoin retreated from its $126,000 all-time high toward the $100,000 level late last year.
The hashrate shock quickly broke into the miners’ finances. Daily bitcoin mining revenue fell from around $45 million on January 22 to an annual low of $28 million just two days later. While revenue has since risen modestly to around $34 million, it remains well below recent averages, reflecting both lower network activity and weaker bitcoin prices.
The production figures show an equally strong decline. Output from the largest listed miners fell from 77 bitcoin per day to just 28 bitcoin in the same period. Production from other miners dropped from 403 bitcoin to 209 bitcoin, bringing the total network output down sharply.
On a 30-day rolling basis, listed miners recorded a 48 bitcoin drop in production, the steepest since May 2024, shortly after the last halving. Output from non-public miners fell by 215 bitcoin, the biggest drop since July 2024.
Profitability has also deteriorated, which has put further pressure on the energy-intensive business.
CryptoQuant’s Miner Profit and Loss Sustainability Index has fallen to 21, the lowest level since November 2024. The level signals that miners are operating under deeply stressed conditions, where revenues cannot cover costs for a growing share of the network despite several downward difficulty adjustments over recent epochs.
While the difficulties have eased as machines have gone offline, the relief has not been enough to offset falling prices and disruptions. If the hashrate remains suppressed, the network could see further difficulty cuts in the coming weeks, providing some margin relief.
For now, the data points to one of the most challenging stretches for bitcoin miners since the post-China ban was reset more than four years ago.
