This week, Bitcoin's mining difficulty was adjusted at block height 941,472, decreasing by 7.76% to 133.79 megabits, marking the second-largest negative adjustment in 2026. The trigger was direct: the average block time over the past week was approximately 12 minutes and 36 seconds, far exceeding the target of 10 minutes.
The current revenue per unit of computing power (hashprice) for miners is approximately $33.3 per PH/s/day (Luxor Hashrate Index data), and it even hit a record low of $28 on the 23rd of last month.
AI Exodus: Mining Companies Are Fleeing More Than Just a Bear Market
As profit margins narrow, the strategic shift of major mining companies is becoming increasingly clear. Core Scientific announced that it expects to sell most of its Bitcoin reserves in 2026, with the funds going towards AI and high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure; last month, it was also reported that Bitdeer had emptied all of its BTC reserves to zero in February.
These two are not the only mining companies announcing diversification strategies: Cango, Riot Platforms, TeraWulf, IREN, CleanSpark, and Bitfarms have all announced similar shifts. HIVE Digital Technologies even launched its first AI GPU computing cluster in Paraguay a few days ago, directly integrating local power resources into AI workloads.
Matthew Sigel, head of digital asset research at VanEck, pointed out the source of mining companies' confidence: miners have "like sitting on a gold mine" in terms of power capacity for AI applications.
Periodic adjustments? Historical data offers a conservatively optimistic view.
However, the VanEck report provides historical reference: during past periods of declining hashrate, Bitcoin had a 65% chance of generating positive returns after 90 days. The easing of cost pressures brought about by the reduction in difficulty is often a negative signal of miner exodus.
On the other hand, as more and more listed mining companies make AI transformation their main strategy, the talent, capital, and power resources of the traditional mining industry are rapidly flowing to another track. What impact will this have on the mining industry? This is something we should continue to pay attention to.
