Bitcoin Miners in Crisis: 20% of Fleet Unprofitable as Costs Soar and Revenue Plummets

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CoinShares says part of <a href="https://tech-oracle.com/btc-usd/">Bitcoin</a> fleet Is unprofitable

Bitcoin miners are facing tighter profits because they’re earning less money while their expenses continue to rise, making it harder for many to stay in business.

Summary

  • CoinShares said falling hashprice has pushed part of the Bitcoin mining fleet below profitability levels.
  • Older mining machines face the most pressure as electricity costs rise above sustainable operating thresholds.
  • Bitcoin difficulty dropped sharply in March, offering some relief while miner margins remained under pressure.

According to a recent report from CoinShares, some Bitcoin mining operations are now unprofitable, especially those using older equipment or dealing with high electricity costs.

According to CoinShares, Bitcoin miners faced their toughest quarter since the April 2024 halving in the final three months of 2025. Declining Bitcoin prices combined with historically high network activity drove down mining profitability to a five-year low. The average cost for publicly traded mining companies to produce a single Bitcoin rose to approximately $79,995 during that period.

According to a new report, the cost to mine Bitcoin, measured as hashprice, fell to around $29 per PH/s/day in the first quarter of 2026. CoinShares notes that, with mining profits down, most miners aren’t upgrading their equipment, and the industry is facing financial strain and reduced cash flow.

Older machines and higher power costs face the most pressure

According to CoinShares, current profits from cryptocurrency mining are so low that many older or less efficient machines aren’t profitable to operate with typical electricity costs. The report found that miners using equipment less powerful than an S19 XP and paying 6 cents or more per kilowatt-hour are currently losing money, given current market conditions around $30 per PH/s/day.

The company believes this group represents 15% to 20% of all Bitcoin mining operations worldwide. This is currently putting pressure on miners using older equipment, less efficient technology, or those with expensive power costs. However, larger mining companies with newer hardware and lower energy costs are better positioned to continue operating.

According to Hashrate Index, the price of hashpower increased by 4.9% in the week ending March 23, rising to $33.65 per PH/s/day from $32.08. However, the report also noted that at around $33 per PH/s/day, many miners still aren’t profitable, as their earnings barely cover the cost of equipment and operations.

The Bitcoin network is starting to show signs of stress. A recent adjustment on March 20th lowered the difficulty of mining by 7.76% to 133.79 trillion, making it easier to mine new blocks and offering some financial help to miners who continued operating.

CoinShares sees more stress if Bitcoin stays below key levels

CoinShares head of research James Butterfill said, 

We predict that if Bitcoin prices remain under $80,000 for the rest of the year, the hashprice will likely keep decreasing.

He explained that if that happens, the price of computing power (hashprice) would likely stop decreasing and stay flat, because miners would turn off machines that aren’t making a profit, causing the network’s overall computing power to drop.

In my research, we’re seeing a shift in the Bitcoin mining industry. We anticipate that miners with higher operating costs could struggle, potentially leading to more of them exiting the market in the first half of 2026 if Bitcoin doesn’t recover. The future seems to favor operators who have key advantages – things like access to cheap power, more efficient mining equipment, and the flexibility to expand into related areas like AI and data center services. It’s becoming clear that adaptability and low costs will be crucial for survival in this sector.

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2026-03-26 13:35