What does it mean that Bitcoin has entered a "hashrate bear market"?

A hashrate bear market refers to a sustained decline in the total computing power securing the Bitcoin network. Elektron Energy CEO Rapha Zagury argues Bitcoin is experiencing its first such period, with network hashrate falling roughly 145 EH/s since late May as mining becomes less profitable.

Why has Bitcoin's hashrate fallen so sharply?

The decline is largely tied to lower Bitcoin prices and shrinking mining revenue. As profits fall, less efficient miners may switch off machines because operating costs exceed potential earnings.

How much has Bitcoin's hashrate declined?

Bitcoin's hashrate dropped from approximately 1,030 EH/s on May 28 to 885 EH/s by June 7. That represents a reduction of about 145 EH/s, or roughly 14% in less than two weeks.

What is hashprice and why does it matter?

Hashprice measures the estimated daily revenue generated by one petahash per second (PH/s) of mining power. It serves as a key profitability metric for miners because it reflects how much revenue can be earned from a given amount of computing power.

How much has miner profitability fallen?

Hashprice fell from $38.69 per PH/s on May 7 to $28.26 by June 7. This nearly 27% decline has significantly reduced mining profitability and increased pressure on operators with higher costs.

Is Bitcoin's network security at risk?

According to Rapha Zagury, Bitcoin's security remains strong despite the hashrate decline. He argues that the cost and resources required to execute a 51% attack remain prohibitively high, even with reduced network participation.

What is the projected Bitcoin difficulty adjustment?

Bitcoin's mining difficulty is expected to decrease by about 10.76% on June 13. Difficulty adjustments help the network maintain its target block production rate by making mining easier when hashrate declines.

Why are Bitcoin blocks taking longer to be produced?

Average block times have increased to roughly 11 minutes and 12 seconds, above Bitcoin's target of 10 minutes. This happens because fewer miners are competing to solve blocks until the next difficulty adjustment recalibrates the network.

Image for illustrative purposes only. Not a real photo.

Bitcoin enters first hashrate bear market

Written by Mahathir BayenaPublished Jun 8, 2026, 12:13 AM

Bitcoin's network hashrate has fallen from 1,030 exahash per second (EH/s) on May 28 to 885 EH/s, reflecting a sharp contraction in mining activity as bitcoin prices retreat to levels last seen in February.

The decline has coincided with a significant reduction in mining profitability, with hashprice falling from $38.69 per petahash per second (PH/s) on May 7 to $28.26 by June 7, representing a 26.96% drop over 30 days.

“Bitcoin is experiencing its first historic hashrate bear market,”

Said Elektron Energy chief executive, Rapha Zagury.

Transaction fees remain a minimal contributor to miner income, accounting for just 0.73% of total rewards over the past day, leaving operators heavily dependent on block subsidies and bitcoin's market price.

Network difficulty is expected to decline by approximately 10.76% on June 13 after average block times drifted to around 11 minutes and 12 seconds, potentially reducing competition among miners that remain online.

Zagury argued that despite the hashrate contraction, Bitcoin's security remains intact because the capital required to conduct a 51% attack remains prohibitively expensive even at lower network participation levels.

He said the more significant long-term challenge is the weak transaction fee market, as fees account for less than 1% of miner rewards despite the ongoing reduction in block subsidies, while many publicly traded mining firms increasingly allocate resources toward artificial intelligence infrastructure instead of expanding bitcoin mining operations.

At the time of reporting, Bitcoin price was $63,210.80.