Bitcoin mining difficulty drops 10% as miners idle rigs after price slide

Bitcoin mining difficulty dropped 10.09% to 124.93 trillion at block 953,568, the lowest level since July 2025.

The adjustment, confirmed by Galaxy Research, ranks as the 11th-largest downward revision in the network's history and the second-biggest decline of 2026, the research firm said in a note.

The epoch took 15.6 days to complete versus the 14-day target as a roughly 15% June price slide compressed profit margins for operators, prompting some to shut down machines. The network's seven-day average hashrate fell to about 0.888 zetahashes per second from an all-time high of 1.151 ZH/s in October, according to Blockchain.com.

Lower difficulty improves economics for miners that remain online, as each unit of hashrate now has a higher probability of finding the next block. A sustained recovery in Bitcoin's spot price could draw idled capacity back online, setting the stage for an upward adjustment at the next epoch.

Miners Pivot to AI as Margins Shrink

The difficulty drop reflects a broader structural shift in the mining industry. CoinShares estimated in March that listed miners could derive as much as 70% of their revenues from artificial intelligence by the end of 2026, up from roughly 30% at the time. Bitdeer sold its entire Bitcoin holdings to fund its AI pivot, while Cango sold $305 million worth of its crypto stash for the same purpose, according to company announcements.

"The migration of Bitcoin miners toward AI and high-performance computing is accelerating rapidly," CoinShares said in its Q1 2026 mining report, adding that "some cannibalization and shutting down of existing mining facilities will occur."

Nakamoto Director of Corporate Development Brandon Bailey said the shift could ultimately benefit remaining miners. "We could see a situation in which mining economics actually do appreciate materially just because you have so much power capacity that is tied to a different use," Bailey said in a recent Blockspace interview. "If Bitcoin starts to recover in price, you can't easily pivot that power capacity."

ETF Outflows and Macro Headwinds

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $4.4 billion in net outflows from May 15 through June 3, the longest streak of withdrawals since their January 2024 launch, according to data from the issuers. Stronger-than-anticipated U.S. jobs data eroded rate-cut expectations, making bonds and other less risky assets more appealing relative to a volatile cryptoasset that pays no yield.

Strategy, the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, bought 1,550 Bitcoins for $101.3 million at an average price of $65,332 in early June, offsetting a small sale it made in May to fund preferred stock dividend payments. The company still holds 845,256 Bitcoins worth about $53.8 billion.

Bitcoin traded near $67,000 as of June 15 after rising on news of a preliminary U.S.-Iran peace agreement, according to CoinGecko. The next key resistance level sits at $70,000, while support remains at $60,000, a level that has held since early May.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.