I just reviewed the numbers, and the situation for Bitcoin miners is quite complicated right now. The average production cost is around $88,000 per coin, while the price hovers around $73,000, so each Bitcoin they mine results in a loss of about $15,000. That’s a heavy blow when you rely on it to operate.

Things worsened with what happened in the Middle East. Oil prices rose above $100 , with the Strait of Hormuz nearly closed, which shot up electricity costs for mining operations. Especially for those operating in areas sensitive to energy supply disruptions. We saw a difficulty drop of 7.76% recently, the second-largest of the year, and block times stretched to over 12 minutes when they should be around 10. Bitcoin mining is under real pressure.

What’s interesting is how they are reacting. Publicly traded miners are already investing in artificial intelligence and high-performance computing because those businesses generate more predictable income. Marathon Digital, Cipher Mining, and others are expanding data center capacity alongside their mining operations. When they can’t cover costs with Bitcoin, they have to look for alternatives. And that leads to more BTC sales in a market that’s already quite tense.

If the price stays below $88,000 without signs of a quick recovery, the exodus continues and difficulty keeps falling. The network self-corrects, but the period between costs exceeding income and difficulty dropping enough is where the damage happens. And the spot market absorbs all that forced selling. It’s a cycle that affects the entire market structure, not just the mining sector.