Bitcoin miners faced a significantly tougher operating environment in the second quarter of 2026, with average production costs surpassing the cryptocurrency’s price. The weighted average ex-tax cash cost reached approximately $75,500 per Bitcoin, exceeding the quarter-end price of $58,400. This financial pressure has forced listed mining companies to rapidly reassess their capital allocation strategies, with many pivoting toward the more lucrative artificial intelligence data center market.
The monthly average hash price fell to a record $27.7 per PH/s/day in June, according to a recent report. It has since recovered to about $38 as Bitcoin rebounded toward $77,000, lifting most operators back above cash breakeven. Transaction fees remained below 1% of block rewards, while elevated difficulty continued to weigh on revenue. Operators remain dependent on higher BTC prices or lower costs to protect margins.
Bitcoin traded around $76.37k at the time of writing, with a market capitalization near $1.53 trillion. The higher BTC price pushed hash price to around $38 per PH/s/day. Whether Bitcoin can hold above $70,000 through Q3 will be important for mining profitability.
Some miners are reducing exposure to Bitcoin production as AI infrastructure becomes more attractive. Core Scientific paid $41.9 million to cancel about 15 EH/s of next-generation mining hardware. At least 35 EH/s is scheduled to leave the listed mining cohort.
Grid access has become more valuable for miners. Three fully leased AI data centers recently traded at roughly $27 million per megawatt. That compares with below $3 million per megawatt for some listed miners’ energized but unleased capacity. Existing grid connections can be difficult to replicate.
The transition is not risk-free because contracted capacity must become revenue. More than $100 billion of disclosed AI/HPC backlog supports about $1.1 billion in annualized revenue. Roughly 550 MW is billing against more than 4 GW contracted.
