According to new on-chain data, the Bitcoin network is experiencing a sustained period of "miner capitulation" with a consistent drop in mining difficulty since November 2025.
In the meantime, profitability is stagnant, and operators are unplugging their machines en masse.
The great unplug
The Bitcoin difficulty chart paints a stark picture of the exodus. Difficulty hit an all-time high of nearly 155 T in early November 2025. Since that peak, the metric has stepped down consistently, crashing to its current level of 141.67 T as of late January 2026.
Mining difficulty determines how hard it should be to find a block. When more miners join, it gets harder. When they leave, it gets easier. The stepped decline in the chart confirms that massive amounts of hashrate are being taken offline. Miners are "tapping out" since they are unable to justify the electricity costs of running their fleets.
In late October, miner profitability (hashprice) fell off a cliff. It dropped from ~$49/PH/s to ~$35/PH/s in a matter of days.
Despite the difficulty dropping, which should theoretically make it more profitable for the remaining miners, profitability has barely budged. It remains stuck in the $38–$40 range.
This creates a "profitability trap." The remaining miners are getting a larger slice of the pie, but the value of that pie is likely too low to make a difference.
Where are they going?
Miners are "switching to other kinds of business." Due to high-performance computing (HPC) contracts paying significantly more than Bitcoin mining, many facilities are repurposing their power infrastructure to host AI data centers.
For many, the choice is simple: mine Bitcoin at a loss, or lease the power capacity to AI firms for guaranteed profit.
Alex Dovbnya
Arman Shirinyan
Tomiwabold Olajide