The largest mining companies have staged a massive sell-off of bitcoins, selling a record 32,000 coins in the last quarter. At the same time, they signed multi-billion dollar contracts worth around $70 billion in the field of artificial intelligence. However, contrary to skeptics' expectations, the Bitcoin network not only remained unshaken but also demonstrated remarkable resilience.
Why miners are leaving and what it means for security
The reasons for this exodus are purely economic. The cost of mining one BTC for public miners reaches ~$80,000, and for a significant period this year, the asset traded below this mark. Mining was operating at a loss. At the same time, redirecting computing power to AI training turned out to be 3–5 times more profitable, especially under long-term contracts with giants like Microsoft and Google.
Miners sold more bitcoins in one quarter than in the entire previous year and began massively converting their power plants into data centers for AI. The stock market appreciated this pivot: shares of the largest players rose by 500%.
The key point: by all previous standards, such a mass exodus of miners should have triggered a security crisis. The network's hashrate indeed saw its first decline in six years. However, a built-in self-regulation mechanism kicked in. When miners leave, the mining difficulty automatically decreases, making mining more profitable for those who remain. "The reward of those who left was transferred to those who stayed," noted analyst Shanaka Anselm Perera. As a result, the hashrate not only recovered but also reached a new all-time high.
Bitcoin's security, as this stress test showed, is built not on participant loyalty but on cold mathematics. The security budget was replenished from another pocket—without voting, bailout measures, or a single missed block. The network proved that it never needed specific miners.
The next debate: not Bitcoin, but AI
As analyst That Martini Guy aptly noted, the next "major financial debate" will not be about Bitcoin but about artificial intelligence. European regulators and central bank representatives are already sounding the alarm: agentic AI is developing faster than financial regulation can keep up. They are concerned not just about automation, but about the moment when autonomous systems begin making mass decisions in trading, lending, and payments.
Some officials are already discussing the need for industry-wide "emergency shut-off switches" in case AI trading causes instability. The technology is moving extremely fast, and the question is whether regulators can keep up before the market forces them to act.
Expert opinion: The exodus of miners to AI is not the end of the Bitcoin era, but an evolution. The network passed a stress test of strength, proving that its security does not depend on the will of individual players. The market has made it clear: the next battle for computing resources will revolve around AI, and it will be far more intense than debates about hashrate.