Bitcoin Hashrate Slips To Four-month Low As Miners Eye AI Profits

For the first time since September, Bitcoin’s network hashrate has fallen below 1,000 exahash per second, indicating a halt in mining activity.

The seven-day moving average is currently about 15% below its October peak, at 993 EH/s. Analysts speculate that miners shifting power to artificial intelligence tasks, which have larger profit margins, may be the cause of the fall.

Over the past year, bitcoin mining has been under tremendous strain because of declining profits and growing debt. Using the same power and cooling infrastructure that was first developed for mining, many operators are shifting to AI and high-performance computing.

The drop comes despite mining difficulty falling several times since November, which normally makes mining more attractive. Hashprice has also improved, signaling better profitability per unit of power.

Some analysts believe the true hashrate could be higher than reported, as manufacturers may be deploying machines through indirect arrangements. Overall, the trend highlights growing competition between Bitcoin mining and AI for energy resources.

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