Why did Bitcoin miner revenue fall after the latest difficulty adjustment?

Bitcoin miner revenue dropped 9.44% after the network increased mining difficulty by 3.12% on May 15. Higher difficulty means miners need more computing power and energy to earn the same amount of Bitcoin rewards.

What is Bitcoin mining difficulty and why does it matter?

Bitcoin mining difficulty measures how hard it is to mine a new block on the network. When difficulty rises, mining becomes more competitive and less profitable unless Bitcoin’s price or transaction fees increase enough to offset costs.

What is hashprice in Bitcoin mining?

Hashprice is the estimated daily revenue generated from 1 petahash per second (PH/s) of mining power. According to Hashrate Index data, hashprice fell from about $38.97 to $35.29 after the latest difficulty increase.

How did Bitcoin’s price affect miner profitability?

Bitcoin fell from above $82,000 on May 14 to around $76,680, reducing the dollar value miners receive from block rewards. Lower Bitcoin prices combined with higher difficulty created a double hit to mining profitability.

Why did Bitcoin’s hashrate fall below 1 zettahash?

The network briefly surpassed 1 zettahash per second before declining to around 959 exahash per second. Some miners may have reduced operations or turned off less efficient machines as margins tightened after the difficulty jump.

Are Bitcoin miners under financial pressure right now?

Yes, especially miners with high energy costs or older hardware. Lower hashprice, weak transaction fee revenue and increased competition are squeezing margins across the mining sector.

How much of miner revenue currently comes from Bitcoin transaction fees?

Transaction fees accounted for only 0.59% of total block rewards over the past 24 hours. That means miners are still heavily reliant on Bitcoin’s market price and block subsidies rather than onchain activity fees.

Could Bitcoin mining difficulty decrease again soon?

Possibly. Current projections suggest the next difficulty adjustment around May 29 could slightly reduce difficulty if block production remains slower than expected, though estimates may still change before the adjustment date.

Cryptocurrency

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Bitcoin miner revenue falls after difficulty jump

Written by Liezl GambePublished May 19, 2026, 2:36 AM

Bitcoin mining profitability declined sharply after the network’s latest difficulty adjustment increased mining difficulty by 3.12%, reducing miner revenue by 9.44% since May 14.

Bitcoin’s mining difficulty rose from 132.47 trillion to 136.61 trillion at block height 949536 on May 15, marking the first upward adjustment in more than a month and the fourth increase recorded in 2026.

Data from Hashrate Index showed hashprice, the estimated daily value generated by 1 petahash per second (PH/s) of mining power, fell from $38.97 on May 14 to roughly $35.29 following the latest difficulty increase.

The decline in mining revenue also coincided with Bitcoin’s price falling from an intraday high above $82,000 on May 14 to around $76,680 by Monday afternoon, further pressuring mining margins.

Bitcoin’s network hashrate briefly exceeded 1 zettahash per second on May 11 before declining to roughly 959 exahash per second as profitability weakened and operational pressures increased.

Transaction fees remained a limited source of revenue for miners, accounting for only 0.59% of total block rewards over the past 24 hours as onchain activity stayed relatively subdued.

Current projections suggest Bitcoin’s next difficulty adjustment around May 29 could result in a slight decline, though mining profitability will remain closely tied to Bitcoin’s market price, network competition and energy costs.

At the time of reporting, Bitcoin price was $77,063.56.