Roughly 22.7% of the 22 mainstream Bitcoin mining machines tracked by WuBlockchain Data Center were generating negative daily net returns as of August 6, as narrowing margins continue to squeeze older or less efficient hardware. The figure lines up with a broader profitability crisis analysts have flagged this year: JPMorgan estimated in a separate report that around 20% of miners were operating at a loss as Bitcoin's price traded below the network's implied production cost, which some estimates put close to $78,000 per coin.
Electricity remains the dominant swing factor. Power alone can account for 60-80% of a mining operation's costs, and the difference between paying roughly $0.06 per kilowatt-hour and $0.10 can be the line between profit and loss. Operators paying residential-level rates of $0.16-$0.20 per kWh are largely priced out of profitable mining entirely under current conditions.
The network is already adjusting
Bitcoin's mining difficulty — a measure of how hard it is to mine a block, which rises and falls as hashrate enters or leaves the network — stood at about 126.23 trillion at the start of August, down more than 19% from its November 2025 peak of 155.97 trillion. That decline reflects unprofitable miners shutting down equipment, which eases competition for the machines that remain online but also signals real capitulation among smaller or higher-cost operators.
Public miners are still sending coins to custody
On-chain activity from two of the largest publicly traded miners points the same direction. MARA, which holds roughly 36,303 BTC worth about $2.34 billion, deposited 200 BTC (about $12.86 million) into custodian NYDIG in a single recent transaction, while Riot Platforms sent another 381 BTC (about $24.51 million) to the same custodian around the same time. Deposits to a custodian don't necessarily mean an immediate sale, but the pattern is consistent with miners generating liquidity from treasury holdings during a stretch when a meaningful share of the industry's hardware is losing money simply by staying switched on.
Related: Whales Keep Buying as Small Holders Sell, On-Chain Data Shows
Public miners collectively sold more than 32,000 BTC in the first quarter of 2026 as roughly a fifth of operators turned unprofitable, according to earlier industry tracking — a trend this week's data suggests has not meaningfully reversed.
