According to Chase Morgan, the response of the Bitcoin mining network to price volatility has increased significantly this year, as more and more miners are operating near the balance of gains and losses. As bitcoin continues to fall short of estimated production costs, the adjustment of capacity and the difficulty of mining is likely to increase further.

Hardness is more sensitive to prices.

The line stated that, over the past six months, the bitcoin mining difficulty relative to BTC price movements had risen to 0.62. This means that the speed at which cybercalculations respond to market changes is accelerating.

According to Chase Morgan, the mining economy continued to weaken in 2026, with Bitcoin prices having been below production costs for five consecutive months. The Bank currently estimated production costs at approximately $78,000, while at the time of the publication the price of bitcoin was about $6.47 million.

About 20 percent of the miners are no longer profitable.

The report cites CoinShares mining data for a quarter, stating that about 20 per cent of the miners are currently in a non-profit situation. Profit pressure also encouraged miners to sell more bitcoin reserves.

  • Over 32,000 BTCs were sold by listed mining companies in the quarter.
  • This size has exceeded total sales for the year 2025.
  • High-cost miners are more likely to shut down when prices are below cost

According to Chase Morgan, when Bitcoin falls production costs, the higher-cost miners usually exit first, leading to a decline in total network capacity and a downward adjustment in the difficulty of digging. The line mentioned that in the second week of June, bitcoin mining difficulties were reduced by 10 per cent, the second time this year that this was a decline.

Mining accelerates the transition to AI operations

The Bank expects that as long as the price of bitcoin continues to be lower than the cost of production, the high sensitivity of the ability to calculate and the difficulty of mining may continue. For mining companies, this means that income fluctuations can be transmitted more frequently to the start-up and balance sheet of equipment.

Against the background of the undermining of the profitability of mining, more and more mining companies are shifting to artificial intelligence and high performance computing to diversify their sources of income. According to Chase Morgan, such trust contracts typically generate more stable and longer-term revenues, with a profit margin higher than the more volatile bitcoin mining operations.