Bitcoin’s network hashrate has suffered its steepest drop since the April 2024 halving, as roughly 400,000 mining machines in China reportedly went offline, according to former Canaan chairman Jack Kong.
Matthew Sigel, head of digital assets research at VanEck, noted that bitcoin’s 30-day simple moving average (SMA) hashrate (BTC $87,182.84) reflects the decline. The hashrate measures the total computational power securing the network.
Kong posted on X that computing power fell by about 100 exahashes per second (EH/s) in a single day—an 8% decline. Based on an average of 250 terahashes per second per machine, this suggests more than 400,000 rigs went offline. He added that mining farms in Xinjiang have been shutting down sequentially, indirectly benefiting U.S.-based miners.
This comes a month after China returned as the world’s third-largest bitcoin mining hub, accounting for roughly 14% of global hashrate.
Glassnode data shows total hashrate falling from approximately 1.1 zettahashes per second (ZH/s) to just above 1 ZH/s. Hash prices remain near $37 per petahash per second, a five-year low. Mining difficulty is expected to decline roughly 3%, offering temporary relief, and currently stands at 148.2 trillion (T), just below its all-time high.
