I just looked at the mining sector statistics, and honestly, the picture is depressing. Bitcoin miners are currently operating at a significant loss. The average cost to mine one coin is around $88,000, while the current BTC price is $72,560 — a minus of $15,000 to $16,000 per coin. For comparison, in October it was even worse after falling from $126,000.

What’s happening? The main reason is the energy crisis. Oil is above $100 per barrel, the Strait of Hormuz is effectively blocked, and this directly impacts the cost of electricity for miners, especially those operating on energy markets dependent on the Middle East. About 8-10 percent of the global hash rate is working under such conditions. Plus, threats of attacks on Iranian power plants have added uncertainty. The network is already showing signs of overload.

Network difficulty has dropped by 7.76 percent to 133.79 trillion — the second-largest decrease in a year. Hashrate has fallen to approximately 920 EH/s, and block creation time is now 12 minutes and 36 seconds instead of the targeted 10 minutes. Hashprice, which indicates the expected income for miners per unit of power, fluctuates around $33 per petahash per day — nearly at the breakeven point, close to the historical minimum of $28.

When bitcoin mining becomes unprofitable, miners start urgently selling coins to cover operational costs. This creates additional pressure on the market, which is already flooded with losing positions and borrowed assets. Major public miners like Marathon Digital and Cipher Mining have already begun diversifying — investing in AI and high-performance computing, where income is more predictable.

The next difficulty adjustment is scheduled for early April, and analysts expect further decreases. If BTC doesn’t rise above $88,000 soon, miner outflows will continue. Of course, the network will self-correct — as participants leave, mining becomes cheaper. But the period between when costs exceed revenues and when difficulty drops enough is the time of maximum pressure on the spot market from forced miner sell-offs. The economics of bitcoin mining are currently working against the miners themselves.