Bitcoin mining difficulty shrinks 14% from this year's high as plunging revenues force operators to pivot
Difficulty falls as weak mining economics reduce capacity, while forward markets signal little relief through year-end.
By Francisco Rodrigues
Aug 1, 2026, 3:51 p.m.
2 min readMake preferred on ShareShare this article
Copy linkX iconX (Twitter)LinkedInFacebookEmail
- Bitcoin mining difficulty fell below year-earlier levels for the second time in history, currently sitting at 126.23 trillion, about 14% below this year’s high. - The 19.1% drop from record highs stems from weak mining economics, capital shifts toward AI, and reduced capacity in major mining regions. - Mining difficulty, which adjusts every 2,016 blocks to maintain 10-minute block times, indicates reduced network competition among remaining miners.
Bitcoin’s mining difficulty has fallen below its year-earlier level for only the second time in the network’s history as weak mining economics and the shift toward artificial intelligence weigh on capacity growth.
The metric, which measures how difficult it is to mine a Bitcoin block, is now at 126.23 trillion after falling 0.74%, about 1.1% below the 127.62 trillion reached a year earlier and 19.1% from the 155.97 trillion all-time high seen in November 2025.
Difficulty adjusts every 2,016 blocks, or roughly every two weeks, to keep Bitcoin’s average block time near 10 minutes. Falling difficulty indicates that less computing power was competing during the previous adjustment period, while reducing competition for miners that remain online.
The metric has dropped about 14% from its January peak, reached this year, following declines of 10% in June and 5% earlier in July, according to network data.
The only previous year-over-year decline was after China’s 2021 mining ban, which temporarily removed roughly half of the network’s computing power. Difficulty recovered as miners relocated to other regions.
Bitcoin mining difficulty year-over-year change (Luxor)This time around, the plunge is more mining economics-based.
Luxor’s Hashrate Index attributed it to falling bitcoin prices, compressed mining revenue and the diversion of capital, power and operators toward AI and high-performance computing infrastructure.
Curtailments in Texas and disruptions in other mining regions also contributed.
The adjustment has provided limited relief. Hashprice, which measures expected miner revenue for each unit of computing power, fell to $27.66 per petahash per day in late June, within one cent of its February low, according to Hashrate Index. Hashprice has since risen to $31.7.
Luxor’s forward market prices an average hashprice of $31.85 per petahash per day through December. That is only modestly above recent spot levels, suggesting miners expect little revenue recovery for the remainder of 2026.
Bitcoin MiningBitcoin News
- 1Unlike the FTX collapse, the $89 million Coldcard exploit has investors sending bitcoin back to exchanges22 minutes ago
- 2Strategy holds STRC dividend at 12%14 hours ago
- 3Bitcoin cold-wallet attack spreads to 4,500 addresses as losses near $89 million16 hours ago
- 4Tokenized stock trading surged 288% in July, but one QQQ token drove most of it19 hours ago
- 5Bank of Italy research suggests stablecoins aren't necessarily cheaper for remittances20 hours ago
- 6SEC to review Nasdaq bitcoin options approval after CME challenge20 hours ago
- 7Solana Foundation's new CISO warns AI is making crypto scams more convincing23 hours ago
- 8Everyone has the perps convergence backwards23 hours ago
- 9Binance founder CZ calls for wallet diversification after $70 million Coldcard exploitAug 1, 2026
- 10XRP Ledger upgrade brings back features once pulled over critical bugsAug 1, 2026
The Evolution of the Crypto CEX Landscape: A Case Study on Binance
The Evolution of the Crypto CEX Landscape: A Case Study on Binance
Binance remains crypto’s leading exchange, expanding from spot and derivatives into RWAs, payments, savings, yield, and broader financial services.
By CoinDesk Research
Commissioned byBinance
Binance remains crypto’s leading exchange, expanding from spot and derivatives into RWAs, payments, savings, yield, and broader financial services.
Binance remains crypto’s leading exchange, expanding from spot and derivatives into RWAs, payments, savings, yield, and broader financial services.
Bank of Italy research suggests stablecoins aren't necessarily cheaper for remittances
Tether posts $1.5 billion operating profit in Q2 as reserve buffer falls by half
The good and the bad of perps, according to crypto traders
