For the first time in six years, bitcoin hashrate, the total computing power that secures the network, fell during the first quarter. It is currently down about 4% year-to-date, hovering around 1 zettahash per share. second (ZH/s).
Over the past five years, the frequency has increased from around 100 exahashes per second (EH/s), a 10-fold increase, according to Glassnode data. Each year, the metric increased during the first quarter and ended with strong full-year growth of over 10%. By 2022, the number had almost doubled.
AI Pivot
The 2026 shift reflects changing economics across the bitcoin mining sector. With production costs close to $90,000 per bitcoin and the spot price closer to $67,000, margins are negative. In response, many publicly traded miners are switching to artificial intelligence and high-performance computing infrastructure, where returns are higher and more predictable.
This transition is financed through debt issuance and bitcoin sales, reducing reinvestment in bitcoin mining. As a result, hash rate growth becomes more sensitive to the price of the cryptocurrency, with weaker prices likely to trigger further declines as smaller operators exit.
While a declining hashrate can raise concerns about network security, decentralization can mean more than absolute size. Publicly listed US miners have accounted for over 40% of the global hashrate, and a reduction in their influence could lead to a more geographically distributed network. In that sense, the current shift may ultimately support decentralization.
Despite the slowdown, CoinShares still predicts hashrate growth to around 1.8 ZH/s by the end of 2026, conditional on bitcoin recovering towards $100,000.
Read more: End of bitcoin ‘HODL’: public miners go all-in on AI, signaling more BTC selling
