Bitcoin miners are facing their toughest operating conditions yet, with soaring network difficulty, falling hashprice, and rising energy costs colliding with a new competitor: artificial intelligence.
Difficulty hit an all-time high of 136.04 trillion on September 4, while miner revenues slid to about $52 per petahash per day. Forward markets see that figure drifting toward $49 over the next six months, leaving little room for error. At the same time, global colocation rates are averaging more than $217 per kilowatt per month, and transaction fees contribute just 1% of block rewards – a combination that squeezes margins across the industry.
These economics are forcing change. CoreWeave’s $9 billion deal to acquire Core Scientific shows how quickly mining infrastructure is being repurposed for AI workloads, which now compete directly with proof-of-work for power and land. GPU hosting contracts often carry higher returns than Bitcoin mining, making diversification increasingly attractive.
Markets are shifting too. American Bitcoin Corp., newly listed on Nasdaq after merging with Gryphon Digital Mining, has built its model around self-mining and accumulation, using treasury strategies to manage between costs, spot prices, and financing terms.
Energy dynamics remain central. In Texas, Riot and others continue to curtail operations during peak-demand seasons to capture grid credits, while hedging on Luxor’s Hashrate Forward Curve has become standard. Break-even math is unforgiving: Antminer S21 rigs need power below 7–7.5 cents per kWh, while WhatsMiner M60S units run closer to 6.5–7 cents.
With margins shrinking and AI demand rising, the definition of “mining” is evolving. Survival now depends less on raw hashrate and more on balancing energy economics, hedges, and new revenue streams beyond Bitcoin.
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Source: https://coindoo.com/bitcoin-mining-margins-shrink-as-difficulty-hits-record-high/