Bitcoin’s network hashrate has hit a seven-month high despite large publicly traded miners shifting capacity to artificial intelligence, suggesting other operators are replacing lost computing power and intensifying competition among the network’s remaining miners.
According to the latest from Blockbridge Consulting Minor Weekly NewsletterBitcoin’s seven-day average hashrate has recovered above 1 zettahash per second (ZH/s), which equates to 1,000 exhashes per second (EH/s), its highest level since March 3.
Hashrate measures the computing power securing the Bitcoin network. The recovery shows that miners working on the network are getting little relief from competition, despite the industry’s ongoing transition to AI workloads.
Bitcoin mining difficulty increased by 5.92% on October 16, with Blockbridge predicting another 5.16% increase in the next adjustment. If the estimate holds, two consecutive adjustments would have increased the difficulty by about 11.4 percent.
“This is hardly the breathing room the remaining miners would have expected from the AI transition,” wrote Blocksbridge, citing the increased competition facing operators who continue to mine Bitcoin.
The shift towards AI has already taken considerable mining capacity offline. Blockbridge previously reported a 23% drop in hashrate received by publicly traded miners, along with a 52% quarterly increase in their reported AI and high-performance computing revenue. It estimates that migration capacity represents about $1.5 billion in mining hardware.
Related: Crypto Buzz: When Bitcoin Started to Climb, AI took a Back Seat
Smaller miners may be picking up the slack.
Some of the lost capacity is being returned to the network by small and medium-sized miners buying supplies from larger operators. Blockbridge pointed to Sazmining, which advertises second-hand Antminer S21 XP machines that buyers can deploy through hosting facilities in Paraguay and Texas.
For miners with access to cheap electricity, buying used machines can be more economical than investing in new equipment. It also means that hardware displaced by AI conversions can continue to mine Bitcoin elsewhere.
However, it is unclear how much of the goods sold actually come from publicly traded miners, or how much is returned to the network.
The hashrate’s recovery comes as some industry observers see increased computing power as an “indirect bullish signal” for bitcoin, reflecting ongoing institutional investment in publicly traded mining companies.
CryptoQuant founder and CEO Kyung Jo recently argued this on X, writing that “higher hashrate means stronger security and better fundamentals as a store of value.
Related: Bitcoin miners face rising AI financing costs as lenders scrutinize deals
