Miner Weekly – The Great Bitcoin Mining Power Shift: Who Won Q1?

This nonfiction archetypal appeared successful Miner Weekly, a play newsletter by Blocksbridge Consulting curating the latest quality successful energy, compute, infrastructure, and information investigation from The Energy Mag. The archetypal nonfiction tin beryllium viewed here.

Bitcoin’s mean web hashrate, based connected nationalist blockchain data, declined from astir 985 EH/s successful Q4 2025 to 873 EH/s successful Q1 2026. Separately, TheEnergyMag compiled quarterly accumulation disclosures from large publically traded miners to cipher their respective realized hashrate implied from Bitcoin accumulation results.

At archetypal glance, the aggregate alteration among ample nationalist miners appeared comparatively modest. The combined realized hashrate of 10 large ones tracked by TheEnergyMag declined lone somewhat from astir 297 EH/s successful Q4 2025 to 291 EH/s successful Q1 2026. HIVE and Cango (NYSE: CANG) were excluded from the examination due to the fact that their first-quarter accumulation information was incomplete.

But beneath that seemingly unchangeable aggregate fig was a overmuch much notable redistribution of industrial-scale hashing power.

While companies specified arsenic Core Scientific (NASDAQ: CORZ), IREN, Cipher Digital (NASDAQ: CIFR), TeraWulf (NASDAQ: WULF) and Keel Infrastructure (NASDAQ: KEEL) sharply reduced realized hashrate arsenic they dismantled oregon repurposed mining fleets for AI and HPC infrastructure, others, including Bitdeer (NASDAQ: BTDR), MARA (NASDAQ: MARA) and American Bitcoin (NASDAQ: ABTC) expanded aggressively to sorb portion of the displaced web share.

Among the biggest decliners, IREN’s realized hashrate fell from 42.96 EH/s to 35.83 EH/s, portion Cipher dropped from 16.55 EH/s to 11.14 EH/s aft afloat decommissioning mining operations astatine its Black Pearl installation successful February to statesman retrofitting the tract for HPC infrastructure. Keel Infrastructure, formerly Bitfarms, declined from 16.52 EH/s to 11.51 EH/s arsenic it continued winding down bequest mining operations and shifting toward North American AI infrastructure development.

CleanSpark (NASDAQ: CLSK) witnessed a humble driblet but likewise signaled it intends to proceed monetizing Bitcoin infrastructure portion selectively pursuing AI opportunities. Executives said older ASIC fleets whitethorn yet beryllium sold oregon relocated erstwhile AI deployments go afloat operational, though the institution acknowledged aboriginal tract conversions could effect successful further impairment charges.

By contrast, Riot Platforms (NASDAQ: RIOT) accrued realized hashrate from 34.21 EH/s to 42.29 EH/s during the quarter. Bitdeer climbed from 43.20 EH/s to 50.26 EH/s with energization of its SEALMINERs, portion MARA roseate from 51.92 EH/s to 55.52 EH/s contempt simultaneous enlargement efforts of their businesses astir AI and HPC initiatives.

The divergence highlighted a increasing divided wrong the nationalist mining assemblage and that displacement became particularly disposable successful firm filings and net calls, wherever respective miners disclosed large-scale fleet dismantling efforts, plus write-downs and mining infrastructure impairments tied straight to AI conversions.

Core Scientific said mining operations volition proceed winding down passim 2026, with absorption expecting lone 1 oregon 2 sites to stay operational for Bitcoin mining by year-end arsenic the institution prioritizes high-density colocation infrastructure for CoreWeave (NASDAQ: CRWV). The institution recorded a $266.5 cardinal impairment complaint during Q1 2026, including $151.6 cardinal related to mining instrumentality and $114.9 cardinal tied to mining infrastructure.

Cipher Digital separately disclosed $30.8 cardinal worthy of mining rigs classified arsenic held for merchantability aft shutting down Black Pearl mining operations. TeraWulf owned astir 54,100 Bitcoin miners arsenic of March 31, but lone astir 35,500 were operational astatine its Lake Mariner campus. The remaining astir 18,600 miners were categorized arsenic undergoing maintenance, awaiting disposal, oregon held connected standby to regenerate units nether repair.

Instead of simply idling rigs during periods of anemic economics, operators are permanently repurposing substations, cooling systems and information halfway layouts for AI deployments. Once infrastructure is converted for GPU workloads, it is improbable to rapidly instrumentality to Bitcoin mining.

American Bitcoin, 1 of the fewer companies inactive expanding its mining fleet, argued the modulation could make a semipermanent accidental for dedicated Bitcoin miners consenting to proceed scaling portion competitors unplug fleets.

The institution accrued its owned fleet capableness from 25 EH/s to 28.1 EH/s successful April pursuing the reenergization of its Drumheller site, which had remained offline since 2024. Much of that growth, akin to its 2025 ramp-up, was financed done an unconventional operation that utilized pledged bitcoin alternatively than currency to get new-generation ASIC miners from Bitmain.

As of March 31, 2026, ABTC had pledged a full of 3,090 bitcoin to Bitmain for the acquisition of 18 EH/s computing power, which unsocial represented astir 64% of ABTC’s 28.1 EH/s proprietary mining fleet. ABTC mined 817 bitcoin during Q1 2026, up 505% from a twelvemonth earlier. At the existent accumulation pace, and assuming Bitcoin web hashrate remains astir stable, the institution could theoretically excavation backmost the equivalent of its primitively pledged bitcoin collateral successful astir six quarters.

If web hashrate continues declining arsenic concern miners unplug much hashrate to pivot toward AI infrastructure, ABTC’s payback play successful bitcoin presumption could accelerate adjacent further arsenic remaining miners seizure a larger stock of artifact rewards.

All successful all, the ongoing migration has altered the fiscal logic of concern mining. During erstwhile downcycles, miners typically unplugged rigs due to the fact that falling Bitcoin prices oregon rising vigor costs rendered operations uneconomic. In 2026, however, miners are progressively shutting down fleets due to the fact that AI infrastructure offers much unchangeable long-duration currency flows, stronger financing conditions and higher expected returns connected powerfulness capacity.

It volition beryllium worthy watching however the dynamics play retired successful the quarters to come. But for now, the strategy remains balanced.