Hash price collapsed to $28-30 per petahash per second per day by early March 2026, making approximately 15-20% of the global mining fleet unprofitable.
The weighted average cash cost to produce one bitcoin among publicly listed miners rose to $79,995 in fourth quarter 2025, according to CoinShares' latest quarterly report.
Three consecutive negative difficulty adjustments through late 2025 - the first such streak since July 2022 - confirmed widespread miner capitulation.
Fourth quarter 2025 marked the most challenging period for Bitcoin (BTC) miners since the April 2024 halving. Bitcoin's price fell 31% from $124,500 in early October to $86,000 by late December, while network hashrate dropped roughly 10%.
Miner Capitulation Accelerates
Publicly listed miners collectively reduced their bitcoin treasuries by over 15,000 coins from peak holdings as companies liquidated reserves to cover operational losses.
Core Scientific sold approximately 1,900 bitcoin ($175 million) in January 2026 alone and plans to liquidate substantially all remaining holdings in first quarter.
Bitdeer reduced its treasury to zero in February, while Riot Platforms sold 1,818 bitcoin ($162 million) in December 2025.
Read also: Brazil’s $10B Crypto Laundering Crackdown
AI Pivot Eclipses Mining Revenue
Over $70 billion in cumulative artificial intelligence and high-performance computing contracts have been announced across the public mining sector through early 2026.
Listed miners could derive as much as 70% of their revenues from AI by end of year, up from roughly 30% in early 2025.
IREN now carries $3.7 billion in convertible notes. WULF has $5.7 billion in total debt, while CIFR issued $1.7 billion in senior secured notes to finance AI buildouts. Fourth quarter colocation revenue reached $31.3 million for CORZ, representing 39% of total revenue.
The cost differential between bitcoin mining infrastructure ($700,000-1 million per megawatt) and AI infrastructure ($8-15 million per megawatt) drove the conversion opportunity now being realized at scale.
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