Bitcoin Mining Profitability Falls Below $40 as Difficulty Climbs

Bitcoin mining profitability has fallen below $40 per petahash per second per day, putting additional pressure on operators already facing high electricity costs and intense competition for block rewards.

As of October 28, Bitcoin's hashprice stood near $36 per PH/s per day, while network difficulty was approximately 140.58 trillion. Another difficulty adjustment is expected around October 30, potentially increasing the computing power required to earn the same amount of Bitcoin.

Data from Hashrate Index and CloudMineCrypto show that mining revenue has weakened despite continued competition across the network.

For miners, the problem is straightforward: more computing power is competing for a limited amount of newly issued BTC.

Bitcoin Mining Profitability: Key Network Metrics

Bitcoin's mining economics depend on the BTC price, network difficulty, transaction fees and electricity costs.

Recent network data show the following conditions:

Sources: Hashrate Index, CloudMineCrypto and Bitcoin network monitoring data, October 28, 2026.

Hashprice measures the expected daily revenue generated by a given amount of mining power.

At $36 per PH/s/day, an operation delivering 10 PH/s would generate approximately $360 in daily gross mining revenue before electricity, hosting, maintenance and other operating costs.

Actual results depend on pool fees, uptime, hardware performance and Bitcoin's market price.

Why Is Bitcoin Mining Hashprice Falling?

Bitcoin's hashprice is affected by three primary variables: the value of BTC, the network's mining difficulty and transaction fees.

When difficulty rises, miners must perform more calculations to earn a statistically equivalent share of block rewards.

That reduces expected BTC revenue per unit of computing power, assuming other conditions remain unchanged.

The current difficulty level of approximately 140.58 trillion reflects substantial competition across the network.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin has been trading around $80,000, limiting the dollar value miners receive for their output.

According to CloudMineCrypto's historical dataset, hashprice declined from approximately $39.40 per PH/s/day on October 14 to $36.00 on October 27.

That represents a decrease of roughly 8.6% in less than two weeks.

The decline matters because mining expenses do not necessarily fall when Bitcoin revenue weakens.

Electricity contracts, equipment financing and facility costs may remain unchanged even as expected mining income decreases.

Bitcoin Difficulty Could Rise Again

Bitcoin adjusts its mining difficulty every 2,016 blocks, approximately once every two weeks.

The mechanism is designed to keep average block production close to 10 minutes, regardless of how much computing power participates in mining.

If blocks are found faster than the target, difficulty increases. If blocks arrive more slowly, difficulty decreases.

The next adjustment is expected around October 30.

Hashrate Index's network dashboard indicates that another positive adjustment is possible.

However, the final change cannot be established until the current adjustment period ends.

A higher difficulty level would reduce the expected number of Bitcoin rewards earned by a miner operating the same amount of computing power.

Unless BTC prices or transaction-fee revenue increase sufficiently, that would create additional pressure on hashprice.

Electricity Costs Are Becoming More Important

Electricity is one of the largest variable expenses for Bitcoin mining businesses.

Profitability depends on how efficiently mining hardware converts electricity into computational work.

Consider a hypothetical operation with 10 PH/s of computing power using equipment averaging 20 joules per terahash.

That represents approximately 200 kilowatts of continuous electricity demand.

At full utilisation, daily power consumption would reach 4,800 kWh.

Illustrative calculation using $36/PH/s/day. Excludes cooling, maintenance, hosting, equipment depreciation and other expenses.

The calculation shows why electricity pricing can determine whether a mining operation remains viable.

At $0.07 per kWh, the hypothetical operation would retain just $24 per day before non-electricity costs.

At $0.10 per kWh, electricity expenses alone would exceed expected mining revenue.

Operators using less efficient equipment would face even greater pressure.

Transaction Fees Are Providing Little Relief

Bitcoin miners receive two forms of compensation: newly issued BTC and transaction fees.

The current block subsidy is 3.125 BTC, following the April 2024 halving.

Transaction fees can increase miner revenue when demand for blockspace rises.

However, recent fee activity has been relatively subdued.

CloudMineCrypto's October 27 dataset shows transaction fees represented approximately 0.46% of total block rewards.

That means miners remain heavily dependent on the block subsidy rather than fees.

For example, a block containing 0.015 BTC in transaction fees would generate approximately 3.140 BTC in total miner compensation, including the subsidy.

With fee revenue contributing such a small share, stronger transaction activity would need to translate into materially higher fees to change the economics.

What Falling Mining Profits Mean for Public Miners

Lower hashprice affects companies differently depending on their operating costs, balance sheets and equipment efficiency.

Publicly traded mining companies such as MARA Holdings, Riot Platforms, CleanSpark and Bitdeer operate substantial computing infrastructure.

Their financial results depend on more than the Bitcoin price.

Important factors include:

• Electricity costs and power-contract terms.

• Mining hardware efficiency.

• Network difficulty and operational uptime.

• Equipment financing and capital expenditure.

• BTC holdings and treasury management.

Companies with lower operating costs may remain profitable while higher-cost competitors reduce production or retire older machines.

Some mining businesses are also expanding into AI and high-performance computing infrastructure to diversify revenue.

However, converting mining facilities for other computing workloads can require additional investment, engineering and suitable power and connectivity infrastructure.

Could Miner Pressure Affect Bitcoin's Price?

Lower mining profitability can influence miner behaviour, although the relationship with Bitcoin's market price is not straightforward.

Operators facing cash-flow pressure may sell a larger portion of newly mined BTC to cover expenses.

Others may reduce electricity consumption, shut down inefficient equipment or postpone expansion.

If enough computing power leaves the network, Bitcoin's difficulty-adjustment mechanism eventually reduces the amount of work required to mine blocks.

This can improve conditions for miners that remain active.

However, higher miner selling does not automatically cause Bitcoin prices to decline. Its effect depends on broader market liquidity and demand.

Mining economics represent one component of Bitcoin's supply dynamics, not a complete explanation of price movements.

What Happens Next for Bitcoin Miners?

The next difficulty adjustment will be an important test for mining economics.

If difficulty increases while Bitcoin remains near current levels, expected revenue per unit of hashrate could face additional pressure.

A higher BTC price would help offset that effect, while stronger transaction fees could provide another source of revenue.

For mining companies, the most important indicators are hashprice, electricity costs, network difficulty and the efficiency of deployed hardware.

At approximately $36 per PH/s/day, profitability varies sharply between efficient operators and those paying higher energy prices.

The approaching difficulty adjustment will show whether competition for Bitcoin's block rewards is continuing to intensify.