Catenaa, Wednesday, June 10, 2026- Bitcoin’s mining industry is facing growing pressure after the network lost approximately 145 exahashes per second (EH/s) of computational power in less than two weeks, prompting some analysts to describe the downturn as the first major hashrate bear market in the cryptocurrency’s history.
The network’s total hashrate fell from roughly 1,030 EH/s on May 28 to about 885 EH/s by June 7 as Bitcoin prices retreated to levels last seen in February.
The decline comes amid a sharp deterioration in mining economics, with operator revenues falling significantly over the past month.
Industry observers said the contraction reflects mounting financial stress across the mining sector following weaker Bitcoin prices, declining transaction fee income and rising competition for computing resources.
While the network remains highly secure, the sudden decline marks one of the largest short-term reductions in Bitcoin’s computational strength since industrial-scale mining emerged.
The biggest challenge facing miners is profitability.
Hashprice, a widely used metric measuring daily revenue generated by one petahash per second of computing power, has fallen sharply over the past month.
On June 7, hashprice stood at approximately $28.26 per petahash.
Thirty days earlier, the same metric was around $38.69.
That represents a decline of nearly 27% in mining revenue during a period when many operators already faced tight margins.
Mining revenues are directly linked to Bitcoin’s market price and transaction fee activity.
As prices decline, less efficient mining equipment becomes increasingly unprofitable.
Industry analysts said many operators have responded by shutting down older machines or reducing operational capacity.
Bitcoin’s self-adjusting protocol is beginning to respond to the slowdown.
The network automatically adjusts mining difficulty every 2,016 blocks to maintain an average block production time of approximately 10 minutes.
As computational power leaves the network, difficulty falls, making it easier for remaining miners to find blocks.
A significant downward adjustment is currently projected for June 13.
Current estimates suggest difficulty could decline by roughly 10.76%, one of the largest reductions in recent years.
The previous adjustment increased difficulty by 1.72%, but conditions have changed dramatically since then.
Average block production times recently extended to more than 11 minutes, reflecting reduced network participation.
Many analysts believe the industry’s deeper challenge lies not in falling hashrate but in the weakness of Bitcoin’s transaction fee market.
Transaction fees currently contribute less than 1% of total miner rewards.
Recent data shows fees accounted for only about 0.73% of miner income over the past day.
Historically, fees played a larger role during periods of heightened blockchain activity.
However, following the 2024 halving, fee income has struggled to compensate for declining block subsidy rewards.
The issue is becoming increasingly important because Bitcoin’s block reward is reduced by half every four years.
Over time, transaction fees are expected to become the primary source of miner revenue.
Analysts warn that stagnant fee growth could pose a greater long-term challenge than temporary hashrate declines.
Elektron Energy Chief Executive Officer Rapha Zagury recently described current conditions as Bitcoin’s first true hashrate bear market.
According to his analysis, the downturn represents a prolonged contraction in computational power driven by economic realities rather than technical failures or temporary disruptions.
The network’s hashrate remains roughly 25% below its September 2025 peak.
Zagury argued that the decline challenges the long-held assumption that Bitcoin’s hashrate would continue rising indefinitely.
However, he emphasized that the network remains extremely secure.
The cost of executing a successful 51% attack remains prohibitively high despite the reduction in computational power.
Another emerging factor is the growing shift of mining infrastructure toward artificial intelligence.
Several publicly traded mining companies have begun redirecting capital, power resources and data center capacity toward AI computing services.
The move reflects stronger demand and potentially higher profit margins in AI-related businesses.
Some miners now view AI infrastructure as a supplementary revenue source capable of offsetting volatility in cryptocurrency markets.
This trend accelerated throughout 2025 and 2026 as demand for advanced computing resources surged globally.
Industry experts expect more mining firms to pursue hybrid strategies combining Bitcoin mining and AI operations.
Despite current challenges, Bitcoin’s built-in difficulty adjustment mechanism provides a natural stabilizer for the industry.
As weaker operators exit the market, remaining miners gain access to a larger share of block rewards.
Historically, such periods have often paved the way for industry consolidation and improved profitability among more efficient operators.
However, analysts caution that long-term sustainability will increasingly depend on the development of a stronger transaction fee market.
With block subsidies continuing to decline over future halving cycles, the industry’s ability to generate sustainable fee revenue may become one of the most important determinants of Bitcoin’s economic security.
