US Bitcoin Miners Slow as Winter Storm Hits Power Grids
A major winter storm in the central and eastern U.S. caused significant disruptions to Bitcoin mining operations as miners reduced power use or faced grid outages. This led to a brief but marked drop in overall network hashrate and longer block times. Foundry USA and Luxor, heavily reliant on U.S.-based facilities, experienced sharp hashrate declines—Foundry from 260 EH/s to 124 EH/s, Luxor from 40 EH/s to 16 EH/s—before partial recovery. Other pools, such as Antpool, also saw reduced hashrate. Miners curtailed activity in response to high electricity demand, grid strain, and requests from grid operators to stabilize the system. These fluctuations illustrate how Bitcoin mining is evolving into a flexible load resource for power grids, ramping down during peak demand or weather events and resuming as conditions stabilize. Despite the temporary slowdowns, the Bitcoin network continued functioning as intended, with its built-in mechanisms absorbing the shocks and maintaining system integrity. This reflects a growing adaptation among miners to grid needs and extreme weather events as part of their operational strategy.
