While the price of bitcoin is struggling to return to its peaks, the network is in excellent health. Mining difficulty has just recorded its largest increase since 2021, a paradox that deserves attention.
In brief
- Bitcoin mining difficulty jumped 15%, reaching 144.4T, the largest increase since 2021.
- The hashrate rose to 1 ZH/s, after falling to 826 EH/s following a winter storm in the United States.
- The hashprice remains at a historic low, around $23.9 per PH/s, compressing miners' margins.
- Several listed mining companies are pivoting to AI, putting a strain on available computing power.
Bitcoin mining difficulty explodes by 15%
This is a surprising figure. On February 18, 2025, the Bitcoin network recorded a difficulty adjustment of +15%, bringing it to 144.4 trillion (T). An increase that the network had not experienced since 2021, precisely since the famous post-mining ban adjustment in China, which then propelled the difficulty up 22%.
This adjustment comes directly after a fall of 11.16% recorded at the beginning of February. At that time, Winter Storm Fern had swept through 34 U.S. states, forcing major operators to shut down their machines.
Foundry USA had lost up to 60% of its hashing power in a matter of hours. Result : the overall network hashrate had plummeted by 1.1 ZH/sits peak reached in October, during bitcoin's record high at around $126,500, up to 826 EH/s.
Since then, the situation has normalized. The hashrate rebounded to 1 ZH/s, and the bitcoin price stabilized around $67,000. The network therefore mechanically corrected upwards, as it is designed to do every 2,016 blocks, or approximately every two weeks.
Miners under pressure, but the network remains strong
This spectacular rebound, however, masks deep tensions. The hashprice, the estimated daily income per unit of computing power, is stagnating at its lowest level in several years, around $23.9 per PH/s. Concretely, mining bitcoin has never been so unprofitable in proportion to the effort made.
In this context, small operators without access to cheap electricity are the first to be sacrificed. They are turning off their machines, which contributes to the hashrate drops observed in recent months.
On the other hand, large, well-capitalized entities are holding up. The United Arab Emirates, for example, boasts nearly $344 million in unrealized profits from mining, proof that access to energy remains the real competitive advantage.
Added to this is a worrying underlying trend: several mining companies listed on the stock exchange are redirecting their resources towards artificial intelligence. Bitfarms recently changed its name to remove any reference to Bitcoin.
Riot Platforms, for its part, is under pressure from the activist fund Starboard, which is pushing for expansion in AI data centers. These pivots drain the computing power of the Bitcoin network in the long term.
The 15% increase in difficulty sends a clear message: the Bitcoin network remains robust, capable of absorbing weather shocks, price collapses and strategic reversals of its main players. This is precisely what Satoshi Nakamoto had designed.
However, behind this technical solidity lies a more nuanced economic reality: mining bitcoin in 2026 is a sport of the rich, reserved for those with the cheapest energy and the strongest balance sheets. The rest will have to choose between resisting… or pivoting.
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