Bitcoin Mining Hashprice Hits Record Low, Bitdeer Divests BTC Amid AI Pivot

Bitcoin miners faced severe economic pressure throughout February 2026, as hashprice—the key measure of mining profitability—dropped to an all-time low near $33 per petahash per day, falling below the estimated average production cost of approximately $84,000 per Bitcoin.

In response, major publicly traded mining firms accelerated strategic pivots toward artificial intelligence and high-performance computing infrastructure, while Bitdeer Technologies Group made headlines by liquidating its entire corporate Bitcoin treasury to fund expansion and liquidity needs.

Profitability Crisis: Hashprice Hits Historic Low, Difficulty Swings

February opened with severe stress across the mining sector. Bitcoin’s mining difficulty recorded a historic 15% surge to 144.4 trillion, one of the largest absolute increases on record, effectively reversing a substantial downward adjustment from the previous period. This difficulty spike coincided with Bitcoin trading near $68,000, creating a margin squeeze for operators with older, less efficient fleets.

By early February, hashprice had crashed to an unprecedented low of $33.31 per petahash per day, triggering what analysts described as a “financial kill switch” for older-generation and mid-tier mining hardware. The metric’s decline reflected a 20% drop in network hashrate over the preceding month, driven by a combination of Bitcoin’s pullback from all-time highs and winter storm-related curtailments in U.S. power regions.

However, the month closed with a sharp reversal. In the final 24 hours of February, mining difficulty rebounded 14.73% to 144.40 trillion as hashpower returned online following price stabilization, though analysts cautioned that the next adjustment projected for March 8 could slash difficulty by approximately 17% if hashrate failed to stabilize.

Strategic Pivots: AI Infrastructure and Treasury Management

Bitdeer’s Treasury Divestment and Self-Mining Leadership

Bitdeer Technologies Group emerged as a focal point of industry repositioning. As of February 20, 2026, the company reported zero Bitcoin in its corporate treasury, excluding customer deposits, having sold its weekly production of 189.8 BTC and reduced overall holdings by 943.1 BTC. Founder Jihan Wu noted that zero holdings currently does not preclude future accumulation.

The company justified the decision as prudent liquidity preparation while evaluating multiple non-binding power and land acquisition opportunities. Bitdeer simultaneously announced a $325 million private offering of convertible senior notes to fund debt restructuring, AI cloud expansion, proprietary ASIC development, and data center infrastructure.

Despite the treasury divestment, Bitdeer reported January self-mining output of 668 BTC, a 430% year-over-year increase, with self-mining hashrate reaching 63.2 EH/s through continued SEALMINER deployment. JPMorgan analysts noted that Bitdeer’s self-mining hashrate surpassed MARA Holdings’ disclosed 60.4 EH/s, making Bitdeer the largest publicly traded self-mining operator by this metric, though MARA may retain an overall hashrate advantage through Middle Eastern joint ventures.

Canaan’s Vertical Integration and Texas Expansion

Canaan Inc. significantly expanded its North American footprint through a $39.75 million all-stock acquisition of Cipher Mining’s 49% equity interest in three West Texas mining projects—Alborz, Bear, and Chief Mountain, collectively known as the “ABC Projects.” The transaction provided Canaan with access to 120 MW of operational power capacity and approximately 4.4 EH/s of operating hashrate, with sites benefiting from sub-3 cents/kWh power costs through long-term grid contracts and off-grid wind integration.

Canaan also acquired 6,840 Avalon A15Pro mining rigs previously deployed at Cipher’s Black Pearl facility, which is transitioning to AI-HPC infrastructure. The company reported January mining output of 83 BTC, with cryptocurrency reserves reaching 1,778 BTC and 3,951 ETH. Despite posting the strongest quarterly results in three years—Q4 revenue up 121.1% to $196.3 million—Canaan’s shares traded at $0.56, down 7%, facing potential Nasdaq delisting if unable to regain the $1 threshold by July.

AI Infrastructure: The New Industry Battleground

Riot Platforms and Starboard Value Pressure

Activist investor Starboard Value intensified pressure on Riot Platforms to accelerate its transition toward AI and high-performance computing data centers. In a letter to Riot’s board, Starboard emphasized that the company’s 1.7 gigawatts of available power across its Corsicana and Rockdale, Texas, facilities positioned it to execute “high-quality AI/HPC transactions” with attractive economic terms.

Starboard estimated that if Riot monetized its power capacity at levels consistent with recent industry transactions, the company could generate over $1.6 billion in annual EBITDA. While praising Riot’s recent AMD deal as a “positive signal,” the investor characterized it as a small “proof-of-concept” transaction and urged renewed urgency in securing more substantive agreements.

MARA Holdings and Starwood Capital Partnership

MARA Holdings Inc. partnered with Barry Sternlicht’s Starwood Capital Group to repurpose select Bitcoin mining sites into AI and cloud-focused high-performance computing data centers. Under the arrangement, Starwood Digital Ventures will handle design, leasing, construction, and operations, while MARA provides site access. The initial phase encompasses approximately 1 gigawatt of capacity, with potential expansion to 2.5 gigawatts. MARA retains the option to hold up to 50% equity in projects.

Hut 8’s Infrastructure Transformation

Hut 8 reported a full-year 2025 net loss of $248 million, compared to $331.4 million net income in 2024, citing approximately $220 million in unrealized digital asset losses. Revenue grew to $235.1 million from $162.4 million. The company emphasized its transition from Bitcoin miner to power and AI infrastructure developer, noting a 15-year AI lease agreement backed by Google with approximately $7 billion in base contract value and a development pipeline reaching 8.5 GW by year-end 2025.

Fractal Bitcoin Network Upgrade

Fractal Bitcoin Network activated the FIP-101 node upgrade at block height 1,500,000, completing phase one consensus changes and initiating standardized index construction. Major mining pools including Foundry, AntPool, ViaBTC, F2Pool, and Binance Pool supported the upgrade, representing approximately 85% of Bitcoin’s network hashrate. The upgrade transitions Fractal’s block structure from a 1:2 ratio of merge-mining to solo-mining toward a 1:1:1 ternary structure incorporating index blocks, integrating index nodes into core reward and incentive mechanisms.

International Developments and Regulatory Landscape

Russia: Crypto Lending and Investment Vehicles

Russian financial institutions accelerated exploration of crypto-backed lending despite regulatory uncertainty. Sberbank, the country’s largest bank, announced plans to offer corporate loans collateralized by digital assets, expressing willingness to collaborate with the central bank on regulatory refinement. The bank had already extended a pilot crypto-collateralized loan to mining firm Intelion Data in late 2025.

Sovcombank, Russia’s ninth-largest bank, claimed to be the first major Russian bank offering Bitcoin-backed loans to individuals and businesses holding digital assets legally. While Sberbank’s earlier pilot to Intelion predates Sovcombank’s announcement, both institutions are pursuing “coins-for-liquidity” models enabling miners and holders to access capital without selling digital assets.

Russian brokerage Finam registered a cryptocurrency mining investment fund with the central bank, planning to launch share trading imminently. Chairman Vladislav Kochetkov indicated the fund represents the first in a series of digital asset mining-related products. The fund’s computing infrastructure in Mordovia utilizes distributed natural gas generation to reduce operating costs.

Meanwhile, authorities in the Komi Republic dismantled an illegal mining operation where a farmer operated over 80 ASIC miners in a converted barn, illegally tapping the power grid and causing approximately $80,000 in electricity losses. The incident occurred as Komi pursues development of 15 crypto mining data centers by 2026.

Other International News

French utility Engie is evaluating energy storage systems or Bitcoin mining data center deployment at its 895 MWp Assu Sol photovoltaic complex in northeastern Brazil to mitigate curtailment impacts on project returns. Since 2023, Brazilian solar and wind projects have faced mounting curtailment pressure due to grid absorption constraints, rapid renewable capacity growth, and distributed solar expansion.

Uzbekistan’s National Agency for Prospective Projects issued its inaugural cryptocurrency mining license to private enterprise NexaGrid, with equipment to be deployed in the Bukhara region’s Romitan district.

Mining Fleet Expansion and Corporate Activity

CleanSpark and Cango Operations

CleanSpark reported January 2026 production of 573 BTC, averaging 18.47 BTC daily with a peak of 21.77 BTC. Operational hashrate peaked at 50 EH/s, averaging 42.6 EH/s, with 248,400 miners deployed. Bitcoin holdings stood at 13,513 BTC as of January 31, including 1,894 BTC pledged for derivatives or receivables.

Cango Inc. completed a $10.5 million equity investment from Enduring Wealth Capital Limited and secured agreements for $65 million in additional equity investments from chairman Xin Jin and director Chang-Wei Chiu’s wholly-owned entities. Funds will support continued development of the company’s integrated energy and AI computing platform.

Distress and Bankruptcy

Bitcoin mining firm NFN8 Group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Texas on February 2, planning court-supervised asset sales. Court documents cited operational cash flow pressure from a core mining facility fire, equipment sale-leaseback obligations, and post-halving hashprice declines. The company operated over 5,000 owned miners across Texas and Iowa facilities, estimating assets below $50,000 against liabilities of $1 million to $10 million.

Russian mining giant BitRiver reportedly faces bankruptcy risk following court-initiated observation proceedings over debt disputes. Multiple data centers have ceased operations due to regional mining bans, energy arrears, and contract disputes, with major creditors including En+, Russian Grids, and Norilsk Nickel. Approximately 80% of senior management has departed, with founder and CEO Igor Runets under house arrest on tax evasion charges.

Industry Perspectives and Research

Paradigm released research arguing that Bitcoin mining should be viewed as a grid asset rather than an energy burden. The investment firm distinguished miners from AI data centers, characterizing mining as “flexible electricity demand” capable of dynamically adjusting consumption based on power prices and grid conditions—reducing load during grid stress and increasing during surplus periods. Mining currently represents approximately 0.23% of global energy consumption and 0.08% of carbon emissions, with block reward halving every four years constraining long-term energy growth through economic incentives.

Dave Weisberger, former CoinRoutes CEO, argued that Bitcoin’s early-2026 hashrate rebound signals sovereign-linked mining activity playing a structural role comparable to central bank gold buying. Citing VanEck research identifying at least 13 nation-states mining Bitcoin at governmental or state-linked levels, Weisberger characterized hashrate recovery as a lagging indicator of sovereign accumulation through longer time horizons, different cost of capital, and reduced need to sell into market weakness.

FAQ: February 2026 Mining Landscape

Q: What is hashprice and why did its record low matter for miners?

A: Hashprice measures mining revenue per unit of computing power (petahash per day). February’s all-time low near $33/PH/day fell below the estimated $84,000 average cost to mine one Bitcoin, creating severe margin pressure that forced operational cuts, equipment shutdowns, and in some cases, liquidation of Bitcoin treasuries.

Q: Why did Bitdeer sell its entire Bitcoin treasury, and does this signal broader industry capitulation?

A: Bitdeer liquidated its holdings to prepare liquidity while evaluating multiple power and land acquisition opportunities, emphasizing that the decision reflected prudence rather than market concern. The move is part of a broader strategic pivot among miners toward AI infrastructure investment rather than pure Bitcoin accumulation, though Bitdeer stressed it will continue mining and its hashrate continues growing.

Q: How are Bitcoin mining companies adapting to margin compression?

A: Major miners are pursuing multiple strategies: pivoting toward AI and high-performance computing data centers by leveraging existing power infrastructure; vertical integration through mining hardware manufacturing and site acquisition; accessing capital markets through convertible debt offerings; and in some cases, liquidating Bitcoin treasuries to fund infrastructure transitions.

Q: What is the significance of Fractal Bitcoin’s FIP-101 upgrade?

A: The upgrade activates phase one consensus changes and initiates standardized index construction, transitioning Fractal’s block structure toward a 1:1:1 ternary model integrating index nodes into core reward mechanisms. Support from mining pools representing approximately 85% of Bitcoin’s hashrate indicates broad industry alignment with the “hashrate + indexing” consensus model.