Bitcoin Hashprice Sits Near Breakeven as Difficulty Grinds Higher
Bitcoin's hashprice is hovering around $31.73 per petahash per day — near or below breakeven for many miners — even as network difficulty rose again on August 8. Forward markets price little relief through year-end.
BY AISHA BENNETT5 MIN READ
Bitcoin mining hashprice hovered near breakeven for many operators as network difficulty continued rising.
Difficulty up, hashprice flat near the floor
Bitcoin's network difficulty rose 0.99% to 127.48T at the August 8 adjustment, according to Hashrate Index, even as bitcoin's price and miner profitability both stayed weak. Over the trailing week, miners collected roughly 3,158 BTC in block rewards — about $202 million — with transaction fees adding just 0.74% on top. Hashprice, the standard measure of expected miner revenue per unit of computing power, sits at $31.73 per petahash per day, down 1.1% on the week and within striking distance of the cash-cost breakeven point for many operators.
Forward markets don't expect a rescue
The squeeze isn't new. Difficulty has already shrunk as much as 14% from its 2026 high earlier this year as weak mining economics forced operators to power down less efficient machines, and hashprice touched $27.66 per petahash per day in late June — within a cent of its February low — before recovering to current levels. Luxor's forward curve prices an average hashprice of just $31.85 through December, barely above where the market sits today, which tells miners not to expect a meaningful recovery in per-unit revenue for the rest of 2026 absent a sustained move higher in bitcoin's price.
WHY IT MATTERS
Hashprice near breakeven is what's pushed miners like TeraWulf toward multi-billion-dollar AI hosting deals instead of pure hashing — the economics of mining bitcoin alone are thin enough that diversifying revenue has become a survival strategy, not just an opportunity.
What to watch next
1.The next difficulty adjustment, expected around August 22 — early estimates point to a decrease of roughly 3%, which would ease the squeeze slightly.
2.Whether more public miners follow TeraWulf's lead into AI and HPC hosting contracts rather than pure bitcoin hashing.
3.Whether bitcoin's price needs to move meaningfully above current levels before hashprice recovers past breakeven for most operators.
Frequently asked questions
What is hashprice?
A measure of expected miner revenue per unit of computing power, usually expressed in dollars per petahash per second per day. It combines block rewards, transaction fees, and bitcoin's price into a single profitability gauge.
Why does difficulty keep rising if hashprice is weak?
Difficulty adjusts to the network's actual computing power roughly every two weeks. It can keep climbing even during a profitability squeeze if enough miners keep their machines running or new, more efficient hardware comes online faster than old rigs go offline.
What happens to miners who can't cover costs at current hashprice?
They typically curtail operations, sell hardware, or pivot facilities toward other uses like AI hosting. Persistently low hashprice tends to push out the least efficient operators first, which eventually shows up as a difficulty decrease.
SOURCES & DATA
Hashrate Index — Weekly Mining Roundup, August 10, 2026 ↗
CoinDesk — Mining difficulty shrinks 14% from 2026 high ↗
Education, not financial advice. See our editorial process and corrections policy.
Aisha Bennett
Bitcoin Almanack's editorial byline for mining hardware, home mining, hashrate, efficiency, power economics, heat, and noise.
Block subsidies are one part of miner revenue. See how subsidy reductions affect supply and mining economics in our Bitcoin halving-cycle explainer.
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