The U.S. dominates global Bitcoin mining, and a 5.8% drop in hashrate triggers a miners’ profitability crisis

Gate News message: In 2026 Q2, global Bitcoin hashrate fell 5.8% quarter-over-quarter to 1004 EH/s, signaling significant financial pressure for the mining industry. The Bitcoin price dropped from $126k in October 2025 to $65k in February 2026, directly weakening miners’ profitability. Hashprice fell to $27.89 per PH/s per day; operations have become difficult to sustain for equipment with efficiency worse than 25 J/TH. About 252 EH/s of hashrate is offline, and some may be permanently retired.

Despite an overall decline in hashrate, the United States still accounts for 37.4% of the global Bitcoin hashrate—about 375 EH/s—maintaining its leading position. Russia ranks second with 16.9%, while China is 12%; however, after the 2025 Xinjiang compliance crackdown, about 13% of mining sites were shut down. These three countries together make up nearly 65% of global hashrate, indicating that network concentration remains high.

Meanwhile, some emerging markets are growing rapidly. Kyrgyzstan is up 300% year over year, Paraguay is up 54%, and Laos and Finland have doubled their hashrate. Ethiopia also accounts for 2.5% of the global hashrate, showing the importance of policy support and natural resources in shaping mining deployment. By contrast, Iran’s hashrate fell by about 7 EH/s and Argentina’s dropped by 42%; macroeconomic and geopolitical factors continue to affect development in some regions.

The Bitcoin network continues to self-adjust: in early April 2026, after difficulty fell by about 8% from the previous period, it then rose by nearly 4%, reflecting the mining protocol’s ability to adapt to hashrate changes. Overall, current hashrate fluctuations are mainly driven by price cycles. The mining industry’s sustainability still depends heavily on market conditions and hardware efficiency. With high-cost mining rigs being retired alongside expansion into emerging markets, the global Bitcoin mining landscape is undergoing a profound adjustment.