Bitcoin mining report | Q2 2026

1. Executive summary

Q2 2026 pushed the listed mining sector below cash breakeven in aggregate. Bitcoin ended the quarter at US$58,400, less than half its October 2025 all-time high, while the hashrate sat roughly 50% below trend following the network's first six-month decline since the China ban, and the monthly average hash price set an all-time low of US$27.7/PH/s/day in June. 

The weighted average ex-tax cash cost to produce one bitcoin among the listed miners was approximately US$75,500 in Q2 2026. 

Three defining themes emerged during the quarter:

Paying to stop mining: Core Scientific paid US$41.9m to cancel 15 EH/s of next-generation Proto hardware. Keel ceased mining on 29 June and will record zero mining revenue in Q3, while at least 35 EH/s is scheduled to leave the publicly listed cohort as IREN and Cipher complete their exits. Keel and Cipher also sold down their BTC reserves while redirecting capital towards data-centre development.

Regulation is turning energised sites into scarce assets: At least 225 moratoriums or restrictions on data-centre development have now been recorded across 30 states, of which 151 remain in force, with New York introducing the first statewide pause. The US interconnection queue stands at roughly 2,600GW, more than the country's entire installed capacity, with data centres accounting for 87% of ERCOT's 410GW large-load queue. A recent transaction valued three fully leased AI data centres at approximately US$27m/MW, compared with below US$3m/MW for some listed miners' energised but unleased capacity. Existing grid access is becoming increasingly valuable.