A recent Bitcoin (BTC) mining report published by crypto asset management company CoinShares revealed that profitability in the sector has fallen to historically low levels.
According to the report, in the first quarter of 2026, the hash price (revenue earned by miners per unit of processing power) will fall to approximately $28–30/PH/s per day, reaching its lowest level since the halving. On the other hand, in the last quarter of 2025, the average cash cost of mining one Bitcoin will reach approximately $80,000. This situation will lead to approximately 15% to 20% of global mining capacity becoming unprofitable.
Another important point highlighted in the report was the accelerating artificial intelligence (AI) transformation in the sector. According to CoinShares, the shift towards AI and high-performance computing (HPC) for Bitcoin mining companies is no longer a choice, but a necessity. Publicly traded mining companies have disclosed over $70 billion in AI/HPC contracts to date. If this transformation continues, some mining companies are expected to generate up to 70% of their revenue from AI activities by the end of 2026. It is noted that companies such as TeraWulf (WULF), Core Scientific (CORZ), Cipher Mining (CIFR), and Hut 8 (HUT) are increasingly moving away from traditional mining and transforming into data center operators.
However, significant changes are also occurring in the financial structure of the sector. According to the report, many mining companies have resorted to large amounts of borrowing to finance their AI investments. For example, IREN holds approximately $3.7 billion in convertible bonds, while TeraWulf’s total debt has reached $5.7 billion. Cipher Mining, on the other hand, issued $1.7 billion in secured bonds.
On the other hand, a significant valuation divergence has emerged in the market. Mining companies securing long-term contracts in the AI and HPC sectors are trading at an average EV/NTM sell multiple of 12.3x, while companies focused solely on Bitcoin mining are trading at around 5.9x. CoinShares notes that the sector is now divided into two: “infrastructure companies” and “mining companies.”
*This is not investment advice.