Three leading public mining companies — CleanSpark, BitFuFu, and Canaan — reported a decline in Bitcoin mining volumes in June 2026. This occurred against the backdrop of mining difficulty dropping to its lowest levels in recent years, which, at first glance, should have made operations easier for miners. However, the reality turned out to be more complex.
CleanSpark mined 614 BTC compared to 671 BTC in May. The main reason was a decrease in the average operational hashrate from 46 EH/s to 43 EH/s. The company's balance sheet at the end of the month held 13,924 BTC.
BitFuFu showed an even sharper decline: 125 BTC versus 177 BTC the previous month. Total computing power dropped from 19.5 EH/s to 15 EH/s due to a reduction in leased capacity. Notably, the company continues to expand its own fleet: in June, an additional 1,200 S21 XP miners were deployed, increasing its own hashrate to 3.5 EH/s. In July, another 2,000 devices are expected to come online.
Canaan mined 64 BTC (compared to 90 BTC in May). The decline was attributed to scheduled power grid maintenance at one of its sites. However, the company's Texas joint venture recovered from May disruptions caused by wildfires. Canaan's balance sheet grew by 49 BTC, and the company ended June with a record 1,915 BTC and 3,952 ETH.
Market reaction to these reports was mixed. CleanSpark shares rose 5% to $13, BitFuFu gained 7% to $1.42, while Canaan shares fell 1.5% to $0.20.
CleanSpark signs $6.6 billion contract and shifts focus
On July 14, CleanSpark signed a 20-year lease agreement for a data center campus in Sandersville, Georgia, with an unnamed investment-grade technology company. The contract is valued at $6.6 billion. The lessee will deploy 175 MW of infrastructure, with commissioning scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2027. The agreement includes two five-year renewal options, which, if exercised, could increase the total deal value to $11.6 billion.
CleanSpark CEO Matt Schultz noted that this agreement marks the company's transition from pure Bitcoin mining to a diversified digital infrastructure model. Simultaneously, the parties signed an exclusivity agreement for negotiations covering CleanSpark's entire Texas portfolio, which includes two sites totaling 718 acres with potential capacity of up to 885 MW. The company expects the contract to generate approximately $330 million in net operating income annually with nearly 100% operating margins. It is worth recalling that CleanSpark began its pivot toward AI infrastructure as early as fall 2025.
My analysis: The decline in mining output for these companies is not so much a signal of sector problems as an indicator of structural restructuring. CleanSpark and BitFuFu are clearly sacrificing short-term volumes for long-term diversification into AI and HPC. This is a correct, albeit costly, move. Canaan, on the other hand, continues to demonstrate classic operational risks tied to infrastructure. Investors appear to value CleanSpark's strategy more highly than immediate mining metrics.