Bitcoin faces one of its biggest mining difficulty drops as miner margins collapse
Bitcoin mining difficulty is set to fall about 10.3% on June 13, one of the largest drops in network history, cutting difficulty from 138.96 trillion to roughly 124.25 trillion. The decline reflects severe miner margin pressure, with many operators shutting off older or higher-cost hardware. Bitcoin is down nearly 30% year-to-date and is trading near estimated average production cost at about $62,650, leaving miners barely breaking even. Transaction-fee revenue has also fallen to a multi-year low, adding to strain after the halving reduced block rewards. Well-capitalized miners are offsetting some pressure by upgrading to much more efficient rigs, which has helped keep total hashrate relatively resilient even as weaker firms exit. Several miner stress indicators are near historic pressure levels but have not yet reached full capitulation. The difficulty cut should provide temporary relief, but further price weakness could trigger more shutdowns and forced selling.
