Bitcoin miners continue to capitulate, dragging hash rate down 15% since October high

Bitcoin’s network hashrate—the computing power maintaining the blockchain—has fallen about 15% from its October peak, reflecting mounting stress among miners.

Hashrate has dropped from roughly 1.1 zettahashes per second (ZH/s) in October to around 977 exahashes per second (EH/s), suggesting some miners are shutting down machines or capitulating as profitability declines.

Glassnode’s Hash Ribbon metric, which tracks miner capitulation by comparing short- and long-term hashrate trends, inverted on Nov. 29 after bitcoin bottomed near $80,000. When inverted, miners typically sell bitcoin to fund operations, adding short-term supply pressure.

Despite the near-term pressure, capitulation is often a contrarian signal. VanEck notes that sustained miner stress has historically preceded renewed bitcoin price momentum as inefficient miners exit the market. The Hash Ribbon indicates that the worst may be ending once the 30-day moving average of hashrate rises above the 60-day average—a pattern that often coincides with improving prices.

Falling hashrate is also triggering repeated negative difficulty adjustments. Bitcoin’s mining difficulty is set to drop 4% on Jan. 22 to roughly 139 trillion (T), marking the seventh negative adjustment in eight periods.

Additional selling stems from miners redirecting capital toward AI and high-performance computing. Firms like Riot Platforms (RIOT) have sold bitcoin to fund these ventures, contributing to short-term downward pressure.