On March 22, according to The Block, Bitcoin mining difficulty was adjusted at block height 941,472 (March 21), decreasing by 7.76% to 133.79 T. The network's average hashrate over the past seven days is currently 937.76 EH/s. This is the second largest decrease this year, second only to the significant 11.16% drop on February 7.
In February, JPMorgan analysts estimated that Bitcoin mining costs had fallen from $90,000 to $77,000 as high-cost operators exited the market, but this was still higher than the spot price. This difficulty reduction not only reflects cyclical price pressures but also structural changes. More and more listed mining companies are shifting their infrastructure from Bitcoin mining to AI computing power. Core Scientific stated that it expects to sell most of its Bitcoin holdings in 2026 to fund its AI and high-performance computing expansion; Bitdeer liquidated its entire Bitcoin reserve to zero in February, and as of its weekly report on March 21, Bitdeer's Bitcoin holdings remained at zero. Companies such as Cango, Riot Platforms, TeraWulf, IREN, CleanSpark, and Bitfarms have also adopted similar diversification strategies in recent quarters.
