Iran’s Bitcoin mining hashrate fell sharply by 7 exahashes per second in Q2 amid regional conflict, a new report shows. The global hashrate declined 5.8% to around 1,004 EH/s, attributed to low Bitcoin prices forcing older mining equipment offline. The United States, Russia, and China now collectively control 65.6% of the global network’s processing power.
Iran’s Bitcoin mining capacity has plummeted over the past quarter during its conflict with the US and Israel. The country lost roughly 7 exahashes per second, leaving its hashrate at about 2 EH/s according to a heatmap.
The impact was contained to Iran, while neighboring countries like the United Arab Emirates and Oman remained stable. “The global hashrate at ~1,000 EH/s persists because no single region has enough capacity to threaten network continuity,” said Ian Philpot of Luxor Technology.
The 30-day simple moving average for global hashrate declined from 1,066 EH/s in Q1 to around 1,004 EH/s in Q2. This 5.8% quarter-over-quarter decline was attributed to a slump in Bitcoin prices affecting miner profitability.
Bitcoin has fallen more than 45% from its all-time high of $126,000 set in October. “At these levels, older-generation equipment… operates at negative gross margins, forcing shutdown,” Philpot added.
The US holds the largest share of global hashrate at over 37%, followed by Russia at around 17% and China at 12%. Growth is now characterized by the deployment of modern hardware and the retirement of legacy equipment.
Philpot stated mining profitability is the primary driver of geographic shifts in hashrate. “Geographic shifts observed in Q1 and Q2 reflect operators testing which regions can sustain operations once the down-cycle ends,” he said.
