Public bitcoin miners have lost 21% of their hash rate: the exodus of computing power to the AI sector is accelerating.
The public Bitcoin mining sector is undergoing a structural transformation. Over the past three quarters, the realized hashrate of the largest listed companies (excluding Bitdeer) has declined by 21.2% — from 368.3 EH/s in Q4 2025 to 319.0 EH/s in Q2 2026. This is not just a correction, but a deliberate dismantling of capacity in favor of alternative directions.
The key driver is the massive transfer of computing resources to AI and HPC infrastructure. The Bitcoin network's own metrics have declined more gently: the average quarterly hashrate fell from 1,071 EH/s to 957 EH/s over the same period, equivalent to a drop of 10.6%. The gap between the dynamics of public companies and the network is explained by the fact that some players wound down mining faster than others managed to ramp up capacity.
Bitdeer as an exception to the trend
Bitdeer demonstrates a striking contrast, having not only avoided a reduction but increased its realized hashrate by 44% — to 63 EH/s. This confirms the hypothesis that the market is not leaving Bitcoin entirely, but rather redistributing capital among issuers with different strategies.
Financial reports record a radical shift in revenue structure. Core Scientific earned $136.7 million from colocation in Q2 versus $27.5 million from mining. For TeraWulf, HPC leasing brought in $31.9 million (71% of revenue), while mining yielded only $12.8 million. Riot Platforms looks more modest: $23.2 million from data centers against $113.7 million from mining. Bitdeer received $14 million from cloud AI services and $197.1 million from mining operations. Hut 8 and MARA so far record a minimal contribution from computing services, while Cipher and Keel Infrastructure have not reported HPC revenue at all.
Mining economics versus the AI race
The current downturn is a consequence of weak mining economics and fierce competition for capital and electricity from AI workloads. For comparison: after China's mining ban in June 2021, the network hashrate briefly fell to 57.5 EH/s but almost fully recovered by December. The current cycle differs in that capacity is leaving not due to a regulatory shock, but due to economic viability.
Additional pressure comes from profitability: in August 2026, Bitcoin miner fees fell to a decade low, making mining less attractive against the backdrop of stable contracts with AI giants.
My conclusion: we are witnessing not capitulation, but the evolution of the industry. Miners are transforming into universal data center operators for whom Bitcoin is just one asset in the portfolio. If the trend persists, by the end of 2026 the share of public companies in the network's total hashrate could shrink by another 10-15%, strengthening centralization in the hands of private and Asian players.