Bitcoin Hashrate Slides Sparks Misconceptions - AGAIN!

7/2/2025, 1:55:55 AM
Intermediate
Blockchain
Although Bitcoin's hash rate recently dropped by 15%, leading to misinterpretations of a "crash," the real reasons are power grid restrictions in the U.S. and mining pool fluctuations, not geopolitical events. The downward adjustment in difficulty may be the largest since China's ban.

After reaching an all-time high of nearly 950 EH/s earlier this month, bitcoin’s seven-day moving average hashrate has slipped to around 810 EH/s—a notable 15% pullback. The decline has sparked widespread speculation online, with some attributing the drop to geopolitical tensions following the U.S. strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.

Posts circulating on X claim that the attack coincided with the hashrate dip and suggest it may have taken Iranian miners offline, removing “secret hashrate” from the network. Others are reviving perennial fears of a “hashrate crash,” pointing to the one-day average hashrate briefly dipping to 600 EH/s.

Many of these interpretations misunderstand how Bitcoin’s hashrate is actually estimated—an error that recurs as reliably as the network’s halving cycle.

Bitcoin’s hashrate is derived from mining difficulty and block production intervals, which means short-term figures can swing wildly due to randomness. The one-day hashrate metric is particularly volatile and often reflects statistical noise—essentially, how “lucky” miners get—rather than any fundamental shift in network capacity. By the same logic, it would be misleading to claim that Bitcoin’s hashrate has surpassed 1 zettahash based solely on a one-day spike.

For those interested in the technical details:

Hashrate (hashes per second) = Difficulty × 2³² / Average block interval (in seconds)

In this equation, the numerator remains constant throughout a given difficulty epoch, so fluctuations in estimated hashrate are entirely driven by variations in block production time.

Each market cycle brings a wave of newcomers who misread these fluctuations. The “hashrate crash” narrative resurfaces whenever metrics decline sharply, despite the probabilistic nature of block production in Bitcoin mining.

A more grounded explanation points to seasonal curtailment in North America as the likely cause. Pool-level data (see snapshot below) shows that the steepest drop came from Foundry USA Pool, which intermittently went offline before rebounding. This pattern is consistent with summer grid management in the U.S., where miners curtail operations during peak electricity demand to help stabilize the grid.


Source: Miningpoolstats on June 26

Even if some Iranian capacity was disrupted, the impact appears marginal compared to the widespread curtailments affecting major U.S.-based pools. It’s also unlikely that significant Iranian hashrate would be routed through Foundry USA, a U.S.-based pool subject to sanctions compliance.

Looking ahead, bitcoin’s next difficulty adjustment is expected around June 29 and could mark the steepest downward retarget since the aftermath of China’s 2021 mining ban—potentially steeper than the -7.32% drop seen during the 2022 bear market’s miner capitulation.

That said, the network hashrate appears to be recovering. The projected difficulty adjustment, which was estimated at nearly -10% a few days ago, is now expected to be slightly under -8%.

Regardless of the final figure, the anticipated difficulty drop should offer some temporary relief—especially for miners operating at the margin amid post-halving economics and summer curtailments.

Regulation News

  • Norway plans temporary ban on power-intensive cryptocurrency mining - Reuters

Hardware and Infrastructure News

  • HIVE Surpasses 11 EH/s on Track to Reach 25 EH/s by U.S Thanksgiving - Link
  • MARA Taps Auradine for Half of 2025 Bitcoin Mining Rig Orders - TheMinerMag
  • HIVE Acquires 7.2MW Toronto Data Center to Expand AI Infrastructure - TheMinerMag
  • Cipher Mining Begins Bitcoin Production at 300 MW Black Pearl Data Center - CoinDesk
  • Genesis Buys US-Made Auradine Bitcoin Miners Amid Tariff Concerns - TheMinerMag
  • Compass Expands Bitcoin Mining Hosting with Soluna to 13 MW - TheMinerMag
  • CleanSpark Becomes Second Bitcoin Miner to Report Reaching 50 EH/s Mark - TheMinerMag

Corporate News

  • Riot Unloads Another 6.5M Bitfarms Shares, Cutting Stake to 13.4% - TheMinerMag
  • Canaan discontinues AI chip business, which generated less than $1 million of revenue in 2024 - Link
  • Bit Digital Raises $150M to Buy ETH, Quits Bitcoin Mining - TheMinerMag

Financial News

  • Bit Digital Secures $44M Credit Facility from RBC for AI Data Center Expansion - TheMinerMag
  • Hut 8 Doubles Bitcoin-Backed Credit Line with Coinbase to $130M - TheMinerMag

Feature

  • What Tariffs Will — and Won’t — Change for U.S. Bitcoin Miners - Coindesk
  • Mining Bitcoin is about to get a whole lot easier — here’s what’s driving it - DL News

Disclaimer:

  1. This article is reprinted from [BlocksBridge Consulting]. All copyrights belong to the original author [BlocksBridge Consulting]. If there are objections to this reprint, please contact the Gate Learn team, and they will handle it promptly.
  2. Liability Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not constitute any investment advice.
  3. Translations of the article into other languages are done by the Gate Learn team. Unless mentioned, copying, distributing, or plagiarizing the translated articles is prohibited.

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