Bitcoin's mining crisis has intensified as the network's seven-day hashrate fell to 915.8 EH/s, marking its lowest level in three weeks since around September 3. According to Digital Asset data covering September 20-26, this represents a decline of approximately 34.86 million TH/s from the previous week. The hashrate decline coincides with major mining companies continuing their exits from the sector, with at least 35 EH/s of computing power scheduled to leave listed miners in the third quarter. Keel Infrastructure has ceased Bitcoin mining entirely and will record zero mining revenue in the third quarter, becoming the first listed miner to reach this milestone. IREN is substantially completing its mining exit by year-end, while Cipher expects mining to be immaterial by 2030 and likely out by end-2027.
Miner reserves have declined substantially, with CryptoQuant data showing miner holdings at 1,192,766 BTC on September 26, down 1,530 BTC from the previous week. This represents a significant shift as miners continue redirecting capacity toward AI computing operations. The Puell Multiple increased to 1.13 during the week, up 0.24 from seven days earlier, indicating that daily miner issuance revenue is higher than its one-year average. However, this positive metric contrasts with the declining hashrate and falling miner reserves, suggesting uneven conditions across the mining sector. Public mining companies continue showing different treasury policies, with CleanSpark mining 593 BTC in August but selling 821 BTC during the month, finishing August with 13,703 BTC holdings.
A surge in miner flows is occurring as market participants increasingly value existing mining sites for uses beyond Bitcoin production. As reported by AMBCrypto, miner stocks focused on AI usage rose to 21% year-to-date, while miner stocks using traditional Bitcoin mining methods declined by 8% this year. This gap represents the value investors assign to power, grid access, and facilities that can support AI workloads. AI-linked mining operations trade at approximately 12.9 times future revenues compared to 3.7 times future revenues for traditionally based mining operations. The economics are compelling - CoinShares estimates that AI work generates annualized profits of around $1.5 million per megawatt, compared to roughly $0.5 million for mining, making the transition increasingly attractive for operators. Hyperscale Data exemplifies this trend, stopping Bitcoin mining at its Michigan facility on September 1 while preparing the site for an AI computing contract, with Bitcoin holdings falling roughly 79% from 1,006 BTC in July to around 215 BTC.
Core Scientific demonstrates how quickly this revenue model can change, generating approximately $136.7 million in revenue compared to only $21 million from Bitcoin mining. According to AMBCrypto, IREN's cloud-AI revenue reached $70.5 million, exceeding its $66.7 million Bitcoin mining revenue. TeraWulf also generated $31.9 million through leasing High-Power Computer equipment, illustrating how redirecting existing equipment can alter revenue production methods. However, CoinShares reports that Core Scientific paid $41.9 million in the second quarter to terminate its agreement with Block's Proto division, canceling roughly 15 EH/s of next-generation 3nm chip deliveries. The company's mining operation was loss-making with self-mining gross margin at -56%, and mining now accounts for just 13.12% of its revenue.
The mining exits are significantly impacting Bitcoin's network hashrate, which has fallen roughly 50% below its long-term trend following the first six-month decline since China's 2021 mining ban. According to CoinShares, the monthly average hash price reached a record low of $27.7 per PH/s per day in June. Twenty One Capital CEO Raphael Zagury described the period as Bitcoin's first "hashrate bear market," based on the distance from the network's previous record, with the decline from the late-2025 peak at roughly 22% to 24%. Mining conditions have differed sharply between operators during September, with Ethiopia reducing electricity supplied to Bitcoin miners to 23% of contracted levels after reservoir inflows fell 20%. The next difficulty adjustment will respond to actual block production over the full difficulty period rather than a single seven-day hashrate reading, suggesting the network may continue adjusting to reduced mining capacity.
