The Bitcoin network's computational power, or hashrate, has fallen below 1,000 exahash per second (EH/s) for the first time since mid-September 2025, signaling a significant shift in the global allocation of computing resources. According to data from Hashrate Index, the seven-day moving average hashrate currently sits at 993 EH/s, representing a nearly 15% decline from its peak of 1,157 EH/s recorded on October 19, 2024.
Analysts attribute this notable drop to Bitcoin miners reallocating their power infrastructure towards more profitable artificial intelligence (AI) compute services. In a post on X, Leon Lyu, CEO and founder of StandardHash, stated that the "AI pivot is impacting Bitcoin hashrate," with miners pursuing higher profitability margins offered by AI workloads. This trend follows what TheMinerMag called the "harshest margin environment of all time" for Bitcoin miners in 2025, characterized by collapsing revenue and surging debt.
The migration is economically driven. AI operations, particularly for training large language models, offer more predictable revenue streams through stable compute contracts, unlike the volatility of Bitcoin block rewards and transaction fees. Furthermore, mining facilities possess the large-scale power access and cooling infrastructure that can be repurposed for high-performance computing (HPC) tasks beyond SHA-256 hashing.
Interestingly, this hashrate decline has occurred despite the Bitcoin mining difficulty dropping four times since November 12, 2025—from 156 trillion to 146.5 trillion—which makes mining easier. Concurrently, the Bitcoin hashprice, a key profitability metric, has risen from $37.15 to $40 per petahash per second per day over the last month. These factors typically would support hashrate growth, but the pull of AI appears stronger.
Some analysts, like Lyu, speculate that the true network hashrate might be underestimated, as major manufacturers like Bitmain could be scaling hashrate through undisclosed secondary channels. Nonetheless, the net outflow confirms intense pressure on miner profitability. The event highlights a new phase of direct competition between blockchain security and AI development for global energy and computational resources.
