Bitcoin hashprice has recovered to about $39.06 per PH/s/day, up more than 43% from its June low near $27, as bitcoin’s price moved toward $80,000 and network difficulty eased, according to data from Luxor’s Hashrate Index.
The Aug. 22 difficulty adjustment reduced the mining threshold by 1.31% at block 963,648, according to Mempool data. Difficulty fell from 127.48 trillion to 125.81 trillion, leaving it just 0.7% above the 2026 low of 124.93 trillion reached in June.
The decline was in line with the flat-to-down-1% move expected before the retarget. It also erased the prior epoch’s 0.99% increase and was Bitcoin’s tenth downward adjustment of 2026, against seven increases.
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Lower difficulty increases bitcoin production per unit of active hashrate, assuming price, fees and operating costs remain unchanged. The latest move is modest, making bitcoin’s price rally the main driver of the hashprice recovery.
Transaction fees have provided little additional support. Mining revenue remains dominated by the block subsidy, as it was earlier this year when fees represented less than 1% of weekly block rewards.
Luxor forwards hold near spot through September
Luxor’s August hashprice forward was quoted at $38.63 per PH/s/day, close to the prevailing spot level, with September priced at approximately the same rate. The January contract stood at $35.75 per PH/s/day.
The downward-sloping curve implies some compression after September, but available contracts remain above $35 into January 2027. That represents a material repricing from late July, when Luxor’s market indicated an average hashprice of $31.85 per PH/s/day for the following six months.
Forward prices do not guarantee realized mining revenue, but they show that traders are not pricing an immediate return to June’s lows. Those lows left miners operating on the margin at or below break-even and followed a sharp contraction in network hashrate.
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Fleet efficiency still separates operators
Hashprice around $39 remains difficult for operators with older machines or expensive power. Previous Hashrate Index estimates placed compute revenue at about $95 per MWh for fleets below 19 J/TH, compared with $50 per MWh for machines operating between 25 and 38 J/TH.
“It comes down to efficiency,” Luxor Chief Operating Officer Ethan Vera said in Blockspace’s July coverage of the hashrate contraction. Newer fleets with low-cost power could remain profitable through depressed hashprice, he said, while older equipment was often better curtailed.
Bitcoin’s seven-day network hashrate stood at 877 EH/s on Aug. 24, according to Mempool. Hashrate remains below its late-2025 peak as weak mining margins and the reallocation of power toward AI infrastructure limit the return of idled capacity.