Bitcoin Hashrate Slips 17% Off Record as Miners Chase AI

Hashrate Pulls Back From Record Highs

Bitcoin’s network hashrate, the combined computing power securing the blockchain, has retreated meaningfully from its record levels this year. CryptoQuant analyst Maartunn estimated the pullback at 17% below its all-time high, while other trackers have shown hashrate easing from a late-2025 peak above one zettahash per second to a range closer to 850 to 920 exahashes per second through the summer.

Hashrate estimates vary between data providers depending on the averaging window used, since the metric is inferred from block timing rather than measured directly, but the broader trend across trackers points in the same direction, i.e. computing power devoted to Bitcoin mining has cooled from where it stood a few months ago.

Mining difficulty, the metric that adjusts every two weeks to keep block production near a 10-minute average regardless of how much hashrate is competing, has moved in the same direction. One analysis put difficulty as much as 19.9% below its own record as of early August, a steeper decline than the hashrate figure.

The pullback follows a rough stretch of profitability for miners. Publicly listed mining companies were losing an estimated $19,000 on every bitcoin produced as of late March, with a weighted average cash cost near $80,000 per coin against a spot price well below that level at the time.