July 2026 became a landmark month for the entire mining industry. The Bitcoin network difficulty demonstrated a rare dynamic — two consecutive negative adjustments in a row, while the hashprice surged by nearly 16%. This combination of factors created a unique window of opportunity for miners, significantly improving the economics of their operations against the backdrop of a recent prolonged price decline.

Network anomaly: a rare event in Bitcoin's history

Over the past month, the network experienced two consecutive difficulty decreases: on July 11, the indicator fell by 5%, and on July 25, by another 0.74%. By the end of the month, difficulty settled at 126.23 trillion. Notably, such dynamics have been observed only the second time in Bitcoin's entire history. The first case was recorded in 2021, when China's mining ban triggered a massive shutdown of computing power.

This time, the reasons are more structural in nature. I see three key factors that shaped the current situation:

  • A fundamental change in mining economics due to the decline in BTC price and hashprice relative to peak values;
  • Active redistribution of investments and energy infrastructure in favor of AI/HPC projects, which are luring capacity away from traditional mining;
  • Temporary shutdowns of some equipment and regional electricity restrictions.

Hashprice growth and Bitcoin stabilization

In parallel with the difficulty decrease, the hashprice — a key indicator of miners' potential revenue per unit of power — showed steady growth. From June 30 to July 31, the indicator increased from $27.60 to $31.93 per 1 PH/s per day, equivalent to a 15.69% rise. The average BTC price for the month was $63,931.98, adding $752.45 to the June value. The fluctuation range was $60,150.01–$66,433.19.

Top 3 most profitable ASIC miners of July

The undisputed leader in profitability in July was the Bitmain Antminer S21 XP 270 TH/s, maintaining its top position from the first half of the year. Its monthly profitability was 1.12% (13.42% annually), bringing owners 0.0038313 BTC. In second place was the Bitmain Antminer S21 PRO 234 TH/s MIX with 0.38% per month (4.56% annually) and 0.00332046 BTC mined. The top three was rounded out by the MicroBT Whatsminer M70 222 TH/s — 0.24% monthly profitability (2.92% annually) and 0.00315018 BTC mined.

It is important to note that the other analyzed models, including several Whatsminer M60S+ and M61S+ units, showed negative profitability due to high electricity and hosting costs. This clearly demonstrates that even in favorable market conditions, only the most energy-efficient devices survive.

The June-July dynamics showed how quickly network operating conditions can change. Mining efficiency now needs to be assessed not by short-term fluctuations, but over a longer horizon. The industry is entering a phase where technological leaders with minimal operating costs prevail, while outdated equipment rapidly loses its economic viability.