Bitcoin's (BTC) network hashrate appears to be stabilizing after a sharp decline that forced miners to scale back operations amid falling profitability, soaring electricity costs, and growing competition from artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.
Zach Pandl, a prominent crypto market researcher, has highlighted the stabilization of Bitcoin's hashrate, suggesting that the network is recovering from one of its most challenging periods in recent years.
According to the four-year Bitcoin hashrate chart shared by Pandl, the network's computing power climbed above 1.1 zettahashes per second (ZH/s) in late 2025 before experiencing a substantial correction throughout 2026.
The network has since recovered toward the psychologically significant 1 ZH/s threshold. According to Blockchain.com data compiled by YCharts, Bitcoin's hashrate reached approximately 1.075 ZH/s on Oct. 13, up from 1.003 ZH/s the previous day.
However, the metric remains below its levels from a year earlier.
What caused Bitcoin's hashrate plunge?
One of the biggest factors behind the decline has been deteriorating mining profitability, particularly following Bitcoin's substantial price correction from its October 2025 peak.
According to a September CoinShares mining report, Bitcoin's hashrate declined from approximately 1,160 exahashes per second (EH/s) in October 2025 to 850 EH/s by early February 2026, representing a plunge of nearly 27%.
The cryptocurrency's declining price, combined with high mining difficulty and limited transaction fee revenue, significantly reduced miners' earnings.
In June, Bitcoin's hashprice, which measures the revenue miners generate per unit of computing power, dropped to a monthly average record low of just $27.70 per petahash per second per day.
At these levels, many operators running older mining equipment struggled to cover their operating expenses.
Rising electricity costs also contributed to the downturn. CoinShares pointed to higher power prices in Texas, temporary electricity curtailments and winter-related disruptions that forced some mining facilities to reduce operations.