Bitcoin Hash Rate Rebounds to Near Peak Despite AI Exodus

According to Glassnode data, the Bitcoin hash rate has risen to within 6.5% of its all-time peak. This recovery is occurring while multiple major publicly traded miners are shifting electricity to AI clients.

Three months ago, the network saw the longest hash rate drop ever recorded. Current data points to private and international miners taking up the slack from the AI transition.

Bitcoin Hash Rate Maintains Floor, Nears Record

Will Clemente, an on-chain analyst, remarked on X that hash rate is almost at record highs again, disregarding miner moves to AI.

Seems pretty notable that despite all of the pivots to AI from miners, hash rate for bitcoin is quietly almost back at record highs pic.twitter.com/P47Eg86ViH

— Will (@WClemente) October 26, 2026

In late 2025, the 14-day moving average of hash rate reached a peak close to 1.135 ZH/s. Between October 2025 and February 2026, it dropped by about 22%.

The drop halted around 870 EH/s. There was a sharp rebound in February, followed by retests of that low in June and August.

All three tests were successful. The most recent upward move is the strongest since February, pushing the metric to about 1.06 ZH/s.

BeInCrypto's August report called the decline the longest ever, lacking a clear bottom. Looking back, the August retest established the floor.

Price presents a contrasting picture. BTC is currently at $79,774, a 0.8% drop over the past 24 hours and roughly 37% off its high of $126,210.

Hash rate, on the other hand, is just 6.5% from its own record. This difference indicates miners are investing for the long term, not pursuing quick profits.

On August 5, 2026, the metrics were: BTC price $64,078, hash rate (30-day average) 898 EH/s and falling, difficulty 126.23T, hashprice around $30–32 per PH/day. By October 27, 2026, BTC was at $79,774, hash rate (14-day average) about 1,060 EH/s and rising, difficulty 140.58T, hashprice about $36 per PH/day.

Mining Difficulty Moves Back Up Toward Record Level

Difficulty validates the trend. On October 16, the network increased it by 5.92% to 140.58T, per mempool data.

A further increase of about 5% to 6% is expected on October 29. Consecutive increases of that magnitude are unusual in 2026, since most adjustments this year were reductions.

The trajectory is seen in Glassnode's data. Difficulty fell from a record 155.97T in late October 2025 to roughly 126T by February.

After a short spring recovery, it reached a low of 124.93T in June. This 10.09% drop was the biggest cut in 2026.

Should the projection materialize, difficulty would climb to around 148T to 150T. That would be the highest since late 2025 and just 4% to 5% under the all-time high.

The August analysis contended that a year-over-year negative reading through autumn would confirm a sustained reduction in Bitcoin's security budget. Due to the late 2025 record, the reading remains negative. Nonetheless, increasing difficulty and hash rate indicate the contraction has paused.

AI Transition Continues Unabated

The rebound does not indicate miners have given up on AI. On August 10, Riot Platforms revealed a 20-year, 191 MW hosting agreement at its Rockdale, Texas facility.

The deal is valued at $9.1 billion, potentially reaching $16.1 billion with extensions. Reports have identified Anthropic as the client, but Riot did not name the customer.

In October, The Information reported IREN had signed a multiyear cloud contract with Anthropic. Neither firm has confirmed the arrangement.

IREN is also exiting mining. It intends to decommission roughly 23.2 EH/s of capacity by December 31.

BlocksBridge Consulting reports that realized hash rate for public miners dropped 15% in the first half of 2026. Disclosed AI and HPC contracts among listed miners have now surpassed $70 billion.

CoinShares, however, estimates that only about $1.1 billion of that backlog is billed annually to date. Haipo Yang, CEO of ViaBTC, recently argued that AI is driving mining away from the priciest locations.

Private Miners and Fresh Regions Fill Bitcoin Hash Rate Gap

Given the shrinkage of public miners, the new hash rate must originate elsewhere. Among listed companies, Bitdeer is the most notable outlier.

Bitdeer's self-mining hash rate hit 82.3 EH/s in September, up from 35 EH/s one year prior.

Older equipment is also being transferred. BlocksBridge indicated that rigs decommissioned by public miners are being acquired by smaller operators who have low-cost electricity.

Texas also contributed. Luxor credited September's recovery mainly to Texas fleets coming back online after the state grid's final summer peak on September 12.

Geographic expansion is also underway. Hashrate Index data shows Ethiopia's hash rate increased 129% year-over-year in Q1, Paraguay rose 54%, and Oman gained 28%.

Price also aided. In late September, BTC recovered toward JPMorgan's estimated production cost of $85,000. Additionally, Capriole's Hash Ribbons indicator marked the conclusion of miner capitulation on August 27.

Ki Young Ju, CEO of CryptoQuant, called the hash rate recovery an indirect bullish indicator for Bitcoin.

Bitcoin hashrate is back in an uptrend, with miners running at full capacity.

Higher hashrate means stronger security and better fundamentals as a store of value.

Public miners are backed by TradFi giants. This is an indirect bullish signal from institutional investors, imo. pic.twitter.com/8OtkBVVGw7

— Ki Young Ju (@ki_young_ju) October 22, 2026

Implications of Hash Rate Recovery for Bitcoin Security

Hash rate quantifies the computational power safeguarding the network. Being near the record implies that attacking Bitcoin is roughly as expensive as it has ever been.

The data also indicates broader ownership, as private miners and new regions take market share from listed firms. Some analysts contend this energy supports Bitcoin's valuation.

Risks persist. Hashprice dropped to about $36 per PH/day on October 25, a roughly 11% monthly decline, according to Hashrate Index.

Further difficulty increases will compress margins unless BTC rises. IREN's scheduled exit in December could also take away significant capacity.

For the moment, miners moving to AI have not undermined the network. Maintaining the recovery may rely on BTC's price keeping up with increasing difficulty.