The power of the Bitcoin network dipped this week, falling back below the one zettahash mark after several months above it. Reports show a seven-day average hashrate near 993 EH/s, a clear reversal from last year’s peak.
Hunger for Power
Reports say that large AI data centers are buying long-term power contracts and are willing to pay more for stable electricity, around the clock, forcing other miners to cut or switch operations. This competition has changed who gets the cheapest power from the grid.
Some publicly traded miners are leasing space to chipmakers and AI firms, turning parts of their sites into AI data centers. Another major miner has signed a multi-year lease with a major chip company, showing how companies are grappling with volatile mining profits.
On Monday, StandardHash CEO and founder Leon Lyu told X that the decline comes as Bitcoin miners switch electricity to AI computing in pursuit of better profit margins.
Why Shift Matters Now
Electricity is one of the biggest costs of mining. When data centers bid for the same megawatts, miners face a stark choice: pay more, accept smaller margins, or recycle power.
Bitcoin Hashrate Alert: Changing Mining Location 📉
For the first time since September 2025, the 7-day average hashrate of BTC dropped below 1 ZH/s. A correction of -4.34% difficulty is expected in 3 days.
What drives migration? 🧵
1️⃣ AI Pivot: Major mining firms… pic.twitter.com/hg8O8xBIkx
— Leon Lyu (@LeonLyuLv) January 19, 2026
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The complexity of the network has been slightly exposed due to the decrease in hashpower, which keeps block times almost stable, but that mechanical adjustment does not change who owns the power contracts.
PJM, the mid-Atlantic grid operator, has moved quickly to propose regulations aimed at managing the growing demand for AI.
The program calls on new large electricity users to commit to their supply or adopt curtailment rules so that essential services and homes do not experience blackouts. These measures are designed to reduce the strain that the growth of AI may place on the system.
Image: JHUEngineering
Bitcoin Vs. AI: Policy Mobility and Political Pressure
US President Donald Trump and several state leaders have called for measures that would make technology firms pay more to protect energy, including proposals for emergency auctions to fund new plants.
The pressure reflects concerns about high debt and the risk that the expansion of data centers could crowd out other users.
What Miners Do for a Living
Many operators don’t just shut down the rigs when power is too expensive; are sites that repurpose hosting GPUs and other AI hardware.
That change could mean more consistent income and longer contracts than mining alone can offer. It also shows a structural change: bitcoin mining is becoming part of the broader computing business of some companies.
Block rewards and protocol rules still protect the network. But if the hashrate stays low for a long time, planners and investors will watch if centralization increases in places where energy is always cheap.
For everyday users, the system continues to generate blocks; for miners, electricity competition is now a major business problem.
Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
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