The headline this week is that Wall Street’s bitcoin miners are walking away to rent their power to AI companies, and bitcoin barely noticed. According to CryptoQuant, five listed miners have signed more than $50 billion in AI leases and mined 47% less bitcoin, yet network hashrate still added about 105 EH/s since August.
Most coverage stops at “bullish for security”. That part is true. But there is a second, less comfortable number hiding in the same data: what all that returning hashrate does to the income of every miner still plugged in.
What happened
Bitcoin’s hashrate, the total computing power securing the network, has climbed about 45% from roughly 726 EH/s in July to around 1,050 EH/s on Wednesday, according to CryptoQuant data cited by Cointelegraph. CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju called it an “indirect bullish signal”, writing that “higher hashrate means stronger security and better fundamentals as a store of value.”
BlocksBridge Consulting adds that the seven-day average is back above 1,000 EH/s for the first time since March 3. Mining difficulty rose 5.92% on October 16, and BlocksBridge projects another 5.16% at the next adjustment, which would be roughly 11.4% across two adjustments.
Who is filling the gap? CryptoQuant points to private, sovereign and non-US miners. BlocksBridge notes that smaller operators may be buying second-hand machines from larger miners, though it says it is unclear how much of that hardware has returned to the network.
Our math: more security, thinner slices
Since the April 2024 halving, the network issues 3.125 BTC per block. At about 144 blocks a day, that is 450 BTC a day in new coins, no matter how much hashrate competes for it. So when hashrate rises and price does not, each unit of hash gets a smaller share.
| July low | October 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Network hashrate | ~726 EH/s | ~1,004 EH/s (30-day avg) |
| Daily subsidy | 450 BTC | 450 BTC |
| BTC per EH/s per day | ~0.620 | ~0.448 |
| Change | about -28% |
At a bitcoin price of about $81,843 (Cointelegraph’s figure for Thursday’s US open), 0.448 BTC is roughly $36,700 per EH/s per day, or about $36.7 per PH/s per day, before transaction fees, power and other costs. That is our own estimate from public figures, assuming blocks average ten minutes.
This lines up with the wider picture. Hashrate Index described hashprice in the low $30s per PH/s per day in its Q3 2026 heatmap update, at or below breakeven for many operators.
BtcMedia verdict
The AI shift did not weaken bitcoin’s security; the network replaced the lost capacity within weeks. That is a real sign of resilience. But it also means the remaining miners are competing harder for the same 450 BTC a day, with difficulty set to rise about 11% in two steps. Miners squeezed on margin sometimes sell more of what they mine, so “hashrate up” should not be read as “price up”. The two can move in opposite directions for months.
What it means for Indian investors
At USD/INR 94.82 (the October 22 close), a price of $81,843 is about ₹77.6 lakh per BTC, and the subsidy works out to roughly ₹3,480 per PH/s per day. Track the rupee price on our Bitcoin INR page or today’s bitcoin price in INR.
If you invest regularly rather than trying to time miner cycles, our Bitcoin SIP calculator and the rest of our free tools show the numbers in rupees. Remember that gains are taxed at a flat 30% plus 4% cess, 1% TDS applies on sale value, and losses cannot be set off against other income. See the live bitcoin price page for the global view.
FAQ
What is hashrate? It is the total computing power miners point at bitcoin. Higher hashrate makes the network more expensive to attack.
Why does higher hashrate mean less income per miner? New issuance is fixed at about 450 BTC a day. More hashrate competing for the same coins means a smaller share for each unit of computing power, unless price or fees rise.
Does a hashrate rebound push the price up? Not directly. It reflects miner confidence and security, but squeezed miners can also add selling pressure.
This article is for information only and is not financial advice.