Bitcoin Miners Reach 'Surrender Phase': Production Cost Inversion, Both Hash Rate and Stock Price Under Pressure

BlockBeats News, February 11th, the Bitcoin mining industry has entered a difficult phase, with unit hashrate income dropping to a historical low of around $35/PH. Impacted by a significant market correction, the Bitcoin price has fallen over 50% from its high of $126,000 in October 2025, and is currently hovering around $60,000.

In this context, the average network-wide cost to fully produce one Bitcoin is around $87,000, approximately 45% higher than the current market price, marking the first widespread "underwater operation" since the bear market of 2022. CryptoQuant has defined the current stage as a "surrender phase," characterized by accelerated shutdown of old mining machines and a significant contraction of network hashrate. As a result, publicly listed mining companies such as MARA Holdings and Riot Platforms have seen their stock prices drop by over 20% this week, with funds flowing into more stable traditional assets like gold.

Meanwhile, North American mining hubs (especially in Texas) have been hit by a severe cold snap, forcing some mining facilities to limit electricity to ensure the stability of the civilian power grid. Combined with miners exiting the market, the network saw a historic 11% difficulty adjustment on February 9th. However, due to the significant price drop, the profitability recovery effect from the difficulty adjustment has been limited.

The industry's "Miner's Breakeven Sustainability Index" has dropped to 21, indicating that apart from a few operators with low electricity costs and high efficiency, the profit margins of most miners have been fully squeezed. For companies with electricity costs above $0.05 per kilowatt-hour or those still using outdated mining equipment, this difficulty adjustment is difficult to reverse the risk of complete shutdown.

To cope with the "2026 Mining Winter," leading companies are accelerating their transition to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and High-Performance Computing (HPC). Firms like IREN and Core Scientific have redirected some of their data center power capacity to support AI businesses to secure more stable long-term contract income. Bitfarms has recently announced a complete exit from Bitcoin mining operations to focus on an AI-centric strategic transformation.