Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Drops 10% in Second-Largest 2026 Adjustment
What happened: Bitcoin's mining difficulty fell 10.
What happened: Bitcoin's mining difficulty fell 10.09% at block 953,568 over the weekend of June 13-14, dropping from 138.96T to 124.93T—the lowest since July 2025. The hashrate cooled from over 1,000 EH/s to roughly 893 EH/s as miners powered down inefficient rigs following a ~15% BTC price decline in June. Hashprice rebounded by about 11% to $32.31 per PH/s per day, but most miners remain unprofitable with average production costs near $84,300 per BTC, well above current market prices.
Why it matters: This marks the 11th-largest negative adjustment in Bitcoin history and signals acute stress among miners, many of whom are shutting down or pivoting hardware to AI and high-performance computing workloads. While the AI narrative explains some hashrate migration, the primary driver remains sustained price weakness. The adjustment may offer short-term relief to surviving miners but highlights ongoing economic pressure within the sector.
Source: Bitcoin.com News