Hashrate Approaches The 976 EH/s Peak Set This Year

While mining profitability erodes and hashprice declines, the Bitcoin network records an unprecedented power rebound. On August 18, the hashrate climbed to 966 EH/s, nearing a historic peak, despite nearly zero transaction fees and growing economic pressure on mining companies. This striking contrast between economic tension and technical robustness raises questions : how does the mining ecosystem manage to maintain, or even strengthen, its security in such an unfavorable context ?

A hashrate close to the peak

The Bitcoin network’s computing power recorded an impressive rebound this August, after a significant drop, reaching 966.08 EH/s on August 18, according to HashrateIndex data.

This is a notable performance, especially since it occurred just four days after a temporary dip below 900 EH/s. The network is now less than 10 EH/s away from its absolute peak of 976 EH/s, set earlier this year.

This comeback, even as the bitcoin price fluctuates around $116,000, seems to reflect a massive mobilization of hardware and energy resources by mining players.

Indeed, this rebound is explained by a series of cyclical and structural factors :

• The quick restart of some mining farms, probably after summer maintenance or energy adjustments ;

• The ongoing improvement of next-generation ASICs, more efficient and less energy-consuming ;

• An effective adaptation to market conditions despite the fall in hashprice ;

• Relative stability of the average block validation time, around 10 minutes, allowing a difficulty adjustment estimated at +0.13 % for August 22.

Hashprice Falling and Reduced Fees

Beyond the network’s technical performance, the economic situation of mining specialists has significantly deteriorated in recent days. The hashprice, a key indicator representing the estimated revenue per petahash per second (PH/s) per day, dropped by 7 % in just five days.

On August 13, it stood at $60.61/PH/s/day. It has now fallen back to $56.37. This drop directly affects the margins of mining companies, already strained by lower transaction fees, which now represent only 0.54 % of block rewards over the last 24 hours.

Such revenue compression occurs in an environment where the flagship crypto price stagnates, while fixed costs (electricity, hardware, maintenance) continue to rise.

In this context, only the most efficient operators, equipped with the latest generation machines or located in low energy cost regions, still seem able to maintain their profitability.

For smaller or less optimized players, this pressure could lead to shutdowns, or even hardware sales at a loss.

This concentration of hashrate in the hands of fewer players could raise concerns about network decentralization and its resilience against potential attacks. While the Bitcoin protocol’s technical robustness does not seem questioned in the short term, mining’s economic viability remains under pressure. How far will mining companies be able to absorb the profitability decline before a structural network rebalancing becomes necessary ?