Mining Companies' Hashrate Decreases by 21.2%, AI Leasing Expands

The realized hashrate of publicly listed Bitcoin (BTC) mining companies decreased in the second quarter of 2026 compared to the previous quarter. Some companies have turned off mining equipment or reallocated power to AI and high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure, with instances where leasing and colocation revenues have surpassed mining revenues.

According to Bitcoin.com News, an analysis tracking public mining companies calculated the realized hashrate for the second quarter of 2026 at 319.0 EH/s, lower than 344.4 EH/s in the first quarter and 368.3 EH/s in the fourth quarter of 2025. Excluding Bitdeer, the decline was reported at 21.2%.

This trend aligns with reports suggesting that the decrease in hashrate among listed mining companies signals a reevaluation between the Bitcoin mining sector and the AI data center market. The reduction in hashrate can be interpreted not only as a weakening of mining competitiveness but also as a repurposing of existing power infrastructure.

The key factors are the power, land, cooling, and transmission networks held by mining companies. Bitcoin mining operations often secure large amounts of power. AI data centers also require stable power, cooling, and land, allowing them to connect the same assets to long-term leasing and colocation revenues.

Core Scientific ($CORZ) reported colocation revenue of $136.7 million (approximately 193.4 billion KRW) and total revenue of $164.2 million (approximately 232.3 billion KRW) in its second quarter 2026 performance data. The company explained that as of mid-July, the power capacity for leasing customers was about 1.1 GW.

Core Scientific also revealed a partnership with AMD for infrastructure that can be expanded up to 2.5 GW. This contract includes a 15-year agreement for approximately 530 MW and a potential base contract value exceeding $14 billion (approximately 19.8 trillion KRW).

TeraWulf announced a 20-year leasing contract with Anthropic, securing approximately 401 MW of IT load. The expected contract revenue for the initial contract period is estimated at around $19 billion (approximately 26.9 trillion KRW). The company also stated that it would sell a 50.1% stake in its Abternity joint venture to recover about $450 million (approximately 636.8 billion KRW) for reinvestment in AI infrastructure.

In TeraWulf's first quarter 2026 data, HPC leasing revenue of $21.02 million (approximately 29.7 billion KRW) accounted for more than half of total revenue. The company noted that it had repurposed or shut down two mining buildings for HPC development support.

Bitdeer reported that as of June 2026, its AI cloud annual recurring revenue (ARR) was approximately $76 million (approximately 107.5 billion KRW), with a utilization rate of 95%. In the same month, it produced 990 Bitcoins, a 388% increase compared to the same period last year. The company signed a 10-year leasing contract for 21.7 IT MW in Malaysia and announced an AI and HPC data center leasing contract worth $4.7 billion (approximately 6.65 trillion KRW) at its Tydal campus in Norway.

Riot Platforms ($RIOT) disclosed data center revenue of $33.2 million (approximately 47 billion KRW) and Bitcoin mining revenue of $111.9 million (approximately 158.3 billion KRW) for the first quarter of 2026. The company stated that its contract with AMD has increased to a total of 50 MW.

Marathon Digital Holdings ($MARA) announced that it would gain the capability to develop approximately 2.2 GW of digital infrastructure through its acquisition of Long Ridge Energy & Power. The initial AI and critical IT construction is set to begin in the first half of 2027, with operations targeted for mid-2028.

Hut 8 mentioned in its first quarter 2026 data that it had contract leasing revenue of $16.8 billion (approximately 23.77 trillion KRW) across two hyperscale AI campuses. However, the company's investor page has a separate document for the second quarter of 2026, making direct comparison for the same quarter difficult.

Keel Infrastructure announced that it received approval to consolidate the power of three existing Bitcoin mining sites into a single 96 MW campus at the Sherbrooke project and to reclassify that power from BTC mining to HPC and AI use. The final conversion is pending review by the Quebec Ministry of Economy, Innovation, and Energy.

The pace of conversion varies by company. Core Scientific and TeraWulf have already seen significant reflection of AI and HPC-related revenues in their performance. In contrast, some projects from Riot Platforms and Marathon are tied to schedules in 2027-2028.

Market reactions should be viewed from both sides. StockTwits reported that investor sentiment turned favorable after Core Scientific's AMD contract and TeraWulf's Anthropic contract. Investing.com reported that TeraWulf's stock rose over 16% in pre-market trading immediately after announcing the Anthropic contract.

However, for the contract size to translate into actual cash flow, construction, power supply, financing, and permitting must be confirmed. As reported, there may be discrepancies between contract announcements and actual revenue recognition, broadening the evaluation variables for mining companies beyond just BTC prices to include power contracts, data center conversion costs, and customer contract fulfillment.

The 21.2% decrease in the hashrate of public mining companies is an external analysis and not an audited consolidated disclosure figure. The impact on the Bitcoin network and individual company performance will be confirmed during the actual revenue recognition process and the operational schedules of each company in 2027-2028.

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