Bitcoin Mining Update: 287-Day Slump Meets $26.6B AI Windfall
Bitcoin’s mining industry is going through one of its toughest stretches in years, and the numbers tell a story that goes well beyond a simple price dip. This bitcoin mining update covers a nearly 300-day network contraction, a major bankruptcy filing, and a wave of billion-dollar bets on artificial intelligence that are reshaping how the industry makes money. Difficulty has fallen almost 20% from its peak, miners have sold record amounts of Bitcoin, and some of the same companies losing money on mining are watching their stock prices soar because of data-center deals that have nothing to do with block rewards.
Key takeaways
- Bitcoin’s network hashrate has been in a drawdown for roughly 287 consecutive days, with mining difficulty down 19.9% from its all-time high, according to Bitcoin Magazine Pro.
- Poolin and two affiliated U.S. entities filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in New Jersey, listing about $173 million in debt tied largely to frozen Poolin Wallet withdrawals.
- Publicly traded miners sold more than 32,000 BTC in the first quarter of 2026 alone, more than their combined sales for all of 2025.
- Hut 8’s total contracted AI portfolio has climbed to $26.6 billion, while Core Scientific’s AMD-anchored leasing deals could generate over $24 billion.
- Kazakhstan and other jurisdictions are moving to formalize digital-asset rules just as Bitcoin mining’s electricity use and low-carbon energy share both climb.
Prolonged Bitcoin Mining Contraction and Network Metrics
Bitcoin’s mining network has been shrinking for the better part of a year, and the latest data confirms this is no short-lived correction. Mining difficulty has fallen 19.9% from its November 2025 peak of roughly 156 trillion down to 126.23 trillion, marking the third-deepest drawdown since dedicated ASIC hardware replaced graphics cards as the industry standard.
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