Mining difficulty has recovered by 15% as the hash rate drops below $30 - ForkLog: cryptocurrencies, AI, singularity, future

# Mining difficulty has recovered by 15% as hash rate fell below $30

As a result of another recalculation, the mining difficulty of the first cryptocurrency increased by 14.73% — to 144.4 T.

Source: CloverPool This is one of the largest changes since 2021. At that time, the ban on digital asset mining in China caused network disruptions, followed by a 22% rise as stability was restored.

The current growth was preceded by an 11% decline caused by a drop in hash rate amid a winter storm in the US. Due to adverse weather conditions, many major miners temporarily halted operations.

As of February 19, Bitcoin’s hash rate remains above 1 ZH/s. The seven-day moving average of the indicator is at 1.01 ZH/s.

Source: Glassnode The majority of the global hash rate is held by Foundry USA with 33.62%, followed by AntPool with 14.35%, and ViaBTC with 12.42%.

The hash rate has decreased over the past 24 hours from $33.5 to $29.7 per PH/s.

Source: Hashrate Index Despite reduced profitability, players with access to cheap energy continue to increase capacity. For example, unrealized Bitcoin mining profits in the UAE have reached $350 million.

It is these well-capitalized and efficient companies that maintain a high hash rate even in conditions of low cryptocurrency prices, which at the time of writing is approximately $67,900 (CoinGecko).

Race for Megawatts

Fourteen of the largest mining companies plan to deploy about 30 GW of new capacity focused on AI workloads, reports TheEnergyMag. This is nearly three times their current volume — 11 GW.

Source: TheEnergyMag The reason is the decline in cryptocurrency mining profitability amid a consistently low hash rate. Companies are trying to redirect their main asset — access to energy — to a more profitable AI infrastructure market.

However, most of these megawatts are still at the planning, connection request, or early implementation stage. According to analysts, the infrastructure on paper is comparable to the power supply of a small country, but actual deployment may be significantly lower.

“Declared megawatts are not a guarantee of success, but merely a formal figure,” noted TheEnergyMag.

According to analysts, the industry is undergoing a structural transformation. If previously competition was based on ASIC miner efficiency and electricity costs, now the key factors are:

• access to capital;
• ability to connect to power grids;
• capacity to deliver data centers on time.

Transitioning into the AI segment also introduces new risks. In mining, monetization was automatic — equipment started mining Bitcoin immediately after connection.

With AI infrastructure, things are more complex. Computing power must be leased to clients, and their load depends on demand, service quality, and competitiveness of the offer.

Miners are essentially becoming infrastructure providers. In this business model, access to energy is just a basic condition that does not guarantee stable revenue.

“This is a race for megawatts in the era of the AI boom. But its outcome depends on demand stability and the ability of companies to monetize the infrastructure they are only now planning to build,” concluded experts.

Recall that in early February, Bitcoin miner Cipher Mining announced raising $2 billion to expand AI computing.