Bitcoin mining hashrate falls as miners shift to AI data centers

The Bitcoin network has experienced a prolonged contraction, with the seven‑day average hashrate dropping about 12% from its December peak and mining difficulty falling 19.9%, marking the third‑deepest drawdown of the ASIC era. While the cryptocurrency’s price has declined roughly 46% over the past year, publicly listed mining companies have surged, some gaining more than 430% as investors revalue their assets.

Miners are repurposing their power‑intensive infrastructure for high‑performance computing, leasing GPU capacity for artificial‑intelligence workloads. Notable examples include Hut 8’s AI leases totaling $26.6 billion and partnerships such as UXLINK with Origins Network to build AI‑driven Web3 applications. The shift is also driven by the scarcity of data‑center power capacity, which now commands a premium in the market.

Analysts note that the rally in miner stocks reflects a broader re‑pricing: power contracts, colocation agreements and proximity to fiber backbones are becoming the primary valuation metrics, overtaking traditional Bitcoin‑only revenue models.