Publicly traded Bitcoin miners are set to remove at least 35 exahashes per second of capacity from mining as they redirect power and data-center infrastructure toward artificial intelligence, according to CoinShares’ second-quarter 2026 mining report. The planned reduction equals roughly 4.7% of the Bitcoin network’s estimated 750 EH/s hashrate, and reflects long-term AI and high-performance computing commitments that a rebound in Bitcoin’s price may not reverse.
The shift is already visible in cancelled hardware orders, shutdown plans and long-duration data-center leases. CoinShares analyst Luke Nolan said several listed mining companies have made infrastructure decisions that extend well beyond a short-term improvement in mining profitability.
Core Scientific, for example, paid nearly $42 million to terminate an agreement for 15 EH/s of next-generation Bitcoin mining machines, according to the report. Cancelling equipment that could have expanded a mining fleet points to a different calculation: preserving power capacity and facilities for customers seeking computing resources for AI workloads.
Mining capacity is being retired or reassigned
Several operators have set explicit timetables for reducing their exposure to Bitcoin mining. Keel, formerly Bitfarms, stopped mining in June, CoinShares said. IREN plans to complete its mining exit by the end of 2026, while Cipher Digital could leave the sector by the end of 2027.
TeraWulf is also winding down its remaining 145 megawatts of mining capacity, the report said. A megawatt measures power consumption and has become a central measure of value for miners seeking to serve AI customers, whose contracts are generally based on dedicated data-center capacity rather than the fluctuating output of mining equipment.
The capacity leaving mining is meaningful even if it does not immediately create an equivalent decline in Bitcoin’s network hashrate. Other miners could add machines, newer hardware can deliver more computing power with less electricity, and private operators may fill part of the gap. Yet a reduction of 35 EH/s from listed companies would remove a sizeable block of capacity from businesses that had previously been among the industry’s most aggressive buyers of mining hardware.
Long-term AI and high-performance computing leases also reduce miners’ flexibility to pivot back quickly. CoinShares said some agreements run for more than 15 years, potentially locking in electricity, land and building capacity that might otherwise have supported future Bitcoin mining expansion.
AI economics reshape the use of power
CoinShares estimated that AI operations are producing about $1.5 million in profit per megawatt for the companies making the transition, compared with roughly $500,000 per megawatt from Bitcoin mining. The difference helps explain why a recovery in mining margins alone may fail to halt the migration.
Bitcoin miners historically treated electricity as the core input in a relatively direct business model: cheaper power and more efficient machines generally improved their ability to compete for block rewards. AI infrastructure changes the equation. Operators with substations, high-voltage interconnections, cooling systems and large sites can seek revenue from enterprise computing contracts, often structured around reserved capacity and multiyear commitments.
That does not make every miner a natural AI provider. Converting a mining site into a high-performance computing facility can require extensive spending on servers, networking equipment, cooling and building upgrades. Mining operations can tolerate occasional interruptions and use specialized application-specific machines, while AI clients generally require more reliable uptime, different hardware and stricter technical standards.
The companies best positioned to make the transition are likely to be those with available power, expandable campuses and access to capital. Firms that only own mining machines may have fewer options if mining returns remain compressed.
Second-quarter mining economics were under strain
The strategic moves came after a difficult second quarter for production economics. Listed miners produced Bitcoin at an average ex-tax cash cost of about $75,500 during the period, CoinShares said, while Bitcoin finished the quarter at $58,400.
That gap did not necessarily mean every public miner was immediately insolvent. Cash costs vary widely by operator, and firms can hold Bitcoin, use hedging strategies, sell power back to grids or earn revenue from other services. But the average figure showed why miners were under pressure to reconsider capital spending and evaluate alternatives for their power capacity.
Revenue conditions deteriorated further in June. CoinShares said average hash price — the estimated daily revenue earned per unit of computing power — fell to an all-time low of $27.70 per petahash per second per day. Hash price is closely watched because it combines Bitcoin’s market price, transaction-fee revenue, block rewards and network competition into a single operating measure.
Bitcoin’s recovery after the quarter offered relief. With Bitcoin trading around $77,000, CoinShares said hash price rose to roughly $38 per PH/s per day, putting most miners back above cash breakeven. The rebound could support companies that retain mining capacity and want to deploy additional machines.
Flexible miners retain options
CoinShares identified Riot, MARA, HIVE and Bitdeer as operators that have maintained more flexible models. Their ability to choose between expanding mining, adjusting power use, hosting computing workloads or pursuing other infrastructure opportunities could become increasingly valuable if Bitcoin price gains and AI demand pull power economics in different directions.
A higher Bitcoin price can encourage surviving miners to switch on idle machines or install new hardware. It can also make the network more competitive, eroding some of the benefit for operators that remain after rivals retire capacity. The industry may therefore divide more sharply between companies treating mining as their primary business and companies using mining as one option within a larger power-and-data-center strategy.
The outcome will depend less on Bitcoin’s price alone than on the relative returns available from electricity. For miners with long-term AI contracts, the decision to exit mining increasingly rests on whether stable computing revenue justifies dedicating scarce grid-connected capacity to another market.
As miners pivot from Bitcoin to AI, understand BTC’s long-term outlook in this in-depth market analysis.
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