A severe winter storm sweeping across large sections of the United States forced major adjustments within the Bitcoin mining industry, resulting in a sharp, temporary drop in the network’s total processing power (hashrate). The primary cause of the decline was mandatory power curtailment, particularly in key mining regions such as Texas and the Midwest, where energy demand soared due to extreme cold.
Grid operators, including ERCOT in Texas, issued appeals and mandatory directives for large industrial consumers to reduce energy consumption to stabilize the residential grid and prevent mass outages. Mining facilities, many of which operate under agreements classifying them as ‘interruptible load,’ responded rapidly by voluntarily powering down their thousands of ASIC miners.
This immediate shutdown resulted in a significant hashrate dip, with some analysts reporting the network’s 7-day moving average fluctuating downward by over 20 EH/s (Exahashes per second) from its pre-storm peak. The dramatic reduction led to a brief slowdown in block production time. The severity of the decline was stark, metaphorically pulling the network’s processing strength back to hypothetical levels projected for mid-2025 under extremely low growth models.
However, the drop proved to be short-lived. As weather conditions moderated and emergency power measures were lifted, mining operations began to resume normal activity. The rapid recovery underscores the industry’s role as a flexible load balancer for regional power grids, while simultaneously highlighting the short-term vulnerabilities of the concentrated US mining sector to extreme weather events.
Source: Bitcoin hashrate briefly drops to mid-2025 levels amid US winter storm
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