{"id":77631,"date":"2026-09-02T19:34:58","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T19:34:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/bitcoin-hashrate-enters-first-bear-market-as-ai-pulls-miners-away\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T19:34:58","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T19:34:58","slug":"bitcoin-hashrate-enters-first-bear-market-as-ai-pulls-miners-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/bitcoin-hashrate-enters-first-bear-market-as-ai-pulls-miners-away\/","title":{"rendered":"Bitcoin Hashrate Enters First Bear Market as AI Pulls Miners Away"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>(Originally posted on : Bitcoin News )<\/b><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"@container mb-[25px] rounded-sm overflow-clip py-0.5 pr-0.5 pl-2.5 bg-success-100\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-col gap-m overflow-clip rounded-[6px] !bg-success-10 p-3 @[420px]:p-m\">\n<h2 class=\"m-0 flex items-center gap-s text-[19px] !text-[#1c1c1c] md:text-[20px]\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"16\" height=\"10\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 10\" fill=\"none\" class=\"shrink-0 text-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><path d=\"M1 1.5h14\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-width=\"2.5\" stroke-linecap=\"round\"\/><path d=\"M1 8.5h10\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-width=\"2.5\" stroke-linecap=\"round\"\/><\/svg><span>Key Takeaways<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul class=\"m-0 flex list-none flex-col gap-m pl-0\">\n<li class=\"m-0 flex items-start gap-s !text-[#434248]\"><span class=\"mt-2 size-2 shrink-0 rounded-full bg-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><span class=\"text-body\">Twenty One Capital says bitcoin entered its first hashrate bear market after peaking near 1.3 ZH\/s.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"m-0 flex items-start gap-s !text-[#434248]\"><span class=\"mt-2 size-2 shrink-0 rounded-full bg-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><span class=\"text-body\">AI demand is pulling power from bitcoin mining, potentially boosting economics for miners that stay.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"m-0 flex items-start gap-s !text-[#434248]\"><span class=\"mt-2 size-2 shrink-0 rounded-full bg-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><span class=\"text-body\">Recent bitcoin miners\u2019 transition to AI suggests the shift may deepen as miners favor long-term AI contracts over BTC.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Twenty One CEO Warns Bitcoin Hashrate Is in Its First Bear Market<\/h2>\n<p>Bitcoin mining may be entering territory the industry has never seen before.<\/p>\n<p>Rapha Zagury, CEO of Tether-backed bitcoin treasury company Twenty One Capital, told the Bitcoin Asia 2026 conference in Hong Kong that the network is going through its first \u201cbear market in hash rate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re living, I think, through the first bear market in hash rate that we\u2019ve ever seen in Bitcoin history,\u201d Zagury said during his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/Archives\/edgar\/data\/2070457\/000121390026095339\/ea030397801ex99-1.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Aug. 28 keynote<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Bitcoin\u2019s hashrate approached 1.3 zettahashes per second late last year before beginning a gradual decline. According to Zagury, the current stretch marks the longest period Bitcoin has spent below a hashrate record without recovering.<\/p>\n<p>That matters because rising network hashrate increases competition between miners. When it falls, surviving operators can capture a larger share of bitcoin production.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_844251\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-844251\" style=\"width:2172px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-844251\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bitcoin hashrate decline since Oct 2025. Source: Hashrate Index<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>This Is Not Another China Mining Ban<\/h2>\n<p>Zagury argued that the current downturn looks fundamentally different from 2021, when China\u2019s crypto mining crackdown caused hashrate to collapse. Back then, mining machines largely moved to other jurisdictions and eventually came back online.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat we\u2019re seeing now, it\u2019s very different,\u201d he said. \u201cWe hit close to 1.3 zettahashes late last year, and it\u2019s been gradually coming down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The change comes as mining infrastructure has gained another potential buyer: artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n<p>Data centers built for bitcoin can offer access to power, land and grid connections that AI and high-performance computing companies increasingly value. That gives miners an alternative to dedicating their entire infrastructure to bitcoin. Zagury said that optionality is often overlooked when investors value mining businesses.<\/p>\n<h2>AI Is Rewriting the Bitcoin Mining Trade<\/h2>\n<p>The shift Zagury described is no longer theoretical. Across the bitcoin mining industry, companies are redirecting power, land and data-center infrastructure toward AI and high-performance computing, where long-term contracts can offer more predictable returns.<\/p>\n<p>Keel Infrastructure has gone furthest. The company shut down all of its U.S. bitcoin mining operations as it prepares several sites for AI and HPC workloads. Keel ended the period with about <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/mining\/keel-shuts-all-bitcoin-mining-with-819m-ready-for-ai-pivot\/\">$819 million in liquidity<\/a>, giving it capital to fund the transition.<\/p>\n<p>Bitdeer has also moved aggressively. In August, the bitcoin miner signed a 16-year AI infrastructure agreement worth about <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/crypto-news\/bitdeer-lands-4-7-billion-ai-deal-as-shares-surge-12\/\">$4.7 billion for 121 megawatts of computing capacity<\/a> at its Tydal campus in Norway. The contract could reach roughly $8 billion if an extension is exercised.<\/p>\n<p>Hut 8, meanwhile, secured a <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/hut-8-secures-9-8-billion-texas-ai-lease-as-bitcoin-miners-pivot-to-compute\/\">$9.8 billion, 15-year AI infrastructure lease<\/a> covering 352 megawatts at its Beacon Point campus in Texas. Its broader contracted AI portfolio now spans 949 megawatts.<\/p>\n<p>Those deals give weight to Zagury\u2019s warning that large public miners are increasingly reconsidering pure-play Bitcoin mining. \u201cIf you look at the public mining companies out there, there really isn\u2019t anybody staying the course to mine bitcoin at scale,\u201d Zagury said.<\/p>\n<p>For miners that remain committed, however, shrinking competition could be an advantage. Zagury argued that operators that remain true to bitcoin mining naturally gain a larger share of the network as competing hashrate disappears.<\/p>\n<p>The result is an unusual tension for the crypto industry: AI may be pulling infrastructure away from bitcoin, while simultaneously improving the economics for miners willing to stay.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/mining\/bitcoin-hashrate-enters-first-bear-market-as-ai-pulls-miners-away\/\">Source link <\/a><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Originally posted on : Bitcoin News ) Key Takeaways Twenty One Capital says bitcoin entered its first hashrate bear market after peaking near 1.3 ZH\/s. AI demand is pulling power from bitcoin mining, potentially boosting economics for miners that stay. Recent bitcoin miners\u2019 transition to AI suggests the shift may deepen as miners favor long-term [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3947362377,"featured_media":77632,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77631"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3947362377"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}