Bitcoin Hashrate Sees Sharpest Post Halving Drop Since 2024 Amid China Machine Shutdowns

Bitcoin’s BTC$86,189.53 30-day simple moving average (SMA) hashrate has recorded its steepest decline since the April 2024 halving, according to Matthew Sigel, head of digital assets research at VanEck.

The bitcoin hashrate measures the total computational power securing the network.

Former Canaan chairman Jack Kong said in a post on X, as many as 400,000 mining machines have recently gone offline in China. Kong said computing power fell by roughly 100 exahashes per second (EH/s) compared to the day before representing an 8% decline. Based on an average of 250 terahash per second, this equates to more than 400,000 mining machines being shut down.

Kong also says that farms in Xinjiang were shutting down one after another, suggesting the U.S. benefited without direct intervention.

The comments come just one month after China resurfaced as the world’s third largest bitcoin mining hub, accounting for roughly 14% of global hashrate.

Glassnode data shows the total hashrate has fallen from approximately 1.1 zettahash per second to just above 1 (ZH/s). The pullback coincides with continued pressure on miner revenues, with hash price hovering near $37 per petahash per second, roughly a five year low.

Bitcoin mining difficulty is currently projected to decline by roughly 3%, offering temporary relief to miner revenues. The metric currently stands at 148.2 trillion (T), just below its all-time high.