February Cryptocurrency Mining: Profits Drop to Historic Lows, Bitdeer Liquidates BTC but Dominates Hashrate

The key profitability indicator for Bitcoin mining, Hashprice, fell to a historic low in February. According to Luxor Technology data, the daily revenue per TH is approximately $0.03. Meanwhile, Bitdeer Technologies Group (NASDAQ: BTDR) liquidated all its own Bitcoin holdings but surpassed MARA with self-mining capacity of 63.2 EH/s.

Hashprice Hits Record Low: Mining Profitability Fully Contracted

Amid Bitcoin dropping below $70,000, rising energy costs, and the impact of a US winter storm, many mining companies have been forced to shut down some equipment. QCP Capital pointed out that Bitcoin’s current price remains significantly below the average mining cost of about $84,000, with liquidity pressures on miners continuing to increase. F2Pool also warned that at around $75,000 per BTC, mining machines with an energy efficiency of approximately 23.3 W/T are nearing break-even point. If prices decline further, high-energy-consuming models will face greater operational challenges.

VanEck Digital Asset Research Director Matthew Sigel noted that the current mining pressure is driven by five overlapping factors: rapid deleveraging of high leverage positions (Bitcoin futures open interest dropped from $61 billion to $49 billion within a week), increased miner selling pressure, cooling of infrastructure investment return narratives, rising concerns over quantum computing risks, and the re-emergence of four-year cycle market psychology.

Bitdeer Liquidates BTC Holdings but Becomes Hashrate Leader: Contradictory Signals Explained

As of February 20, 2026, Bitdeer’s own BTC holdings dropped to zero. The 189.8 BTC produced that week were fully sold, with a net BTC change of -943.1 BTC. However, during the same period, leveraging its self-developed SEALMINER mining machines, Bitdeer maintained a self-mining capacity of 63.2 EH/s, surpassing MARA to become the publicly listed miner with the highest self-mining capacity (confirmed by JPMorgan analysts).

Founder Wu Jihan responded that holding zero BTC now does not mean it will remain so in the future. The liquidation aims to prepare liquidity in advance and evaluate multiple opportunities for land and power acquisitions. Simultaneously, Bitdeer announced a private placement of $300 million in convertible senior notes due 2032, mainly to fund data center expansion, high-performance computing (HPC), and AI cloud services.

Summary of Major Mining Company Performance and Events in February

MARA Holdings: Q4 2025 net loss of $1.7 billion, mining capacity increased to 66.4 EH/s, holding 53,822 BTC at year-end.

Hut 8: Full-year 2025 net loss of $248 million, signed a 15-year, approximately $7 billion AI leasing agreement with Google.

Canaan (嘉楠科技): Acquired a 49% stake in Cipher Mining’s three mining farms for about $39.75 million, with a total power capacity of 120 MW.

NFN8 Group: Filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Texas, with assets valued below $50,000.

BitRiver (Russia): Initiated bankruptcy proceedings due to debt disputes; multiple data centers shut down; founder and CEO under house arrest.

Mining Industry Accelerates Transformation: AI/HPC as New Industry Pathways

MARA partnered with Starwood Capital Group to convert Bitcoin mining farms into AI/HPC data centers, initially with about 1 GW capacity, expandable to 2.5 GW. Aggressive investor Starboard Value pressured Riot Platforms to reallocate approximately 1.7 GW of Texas power capacity for AI/HPC, which could generate over $1.6 billion in annual EBITDA. Tether also announced the launch of MOS (Mining OS by Tether), an open-source Bitcoin mining operating system, aiming to enter the mining infrastructure management market.

Paradigm’s research report states that Bitcoin mining should be positioned as a flexible demand asset for power grids rather than an energy burden. Miners can dynamically adjust their electricity consumption based on price signals, actively reducing load during grid stress to provide demand-side flexibility.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Hashprice, and why is it a key profitability indicator for mining?
Hashprice measures the daily revenue generated per unit of hash rate (per TH/s), directly reflecting the real-time profitability of mining operations. When Hashprice declines, high-energy-consuming miners will reach break-even points first, making it a core quantitative metric for assessing the overall health of the mining industry.

Does Bitdeer liquidating its Bitcoin holdings indicate a loss of confidence in the mining industry?
Bitdeer’s official stance is that this is a liquidity management decision aimed at preparing funds for data center expansion and AI business development, not a negative outlook on the industry. Founder Wu Jihan explicitly stated that holding zero BTC now does not determine future direction; the company’s mining capacity deployment continues to expand.

Can AI/HPC transformation effectively replace Bitcoin mining revenue?
There is significant overlap between the power infrastructure used for mining and that required for AI data centers, making such a transition technically feasible. However, based on the financial reports of Hut 8 and TeraWulf, HPC revenue currently accounts for a relatively small portion of total income. Mining remains the primary cash flow source for most miners, and a full transformation is expected to take several years.