Bitcoin’s 316-day hashrate drought shows why AI could make this mining downturn harder to reverse

Bitcoin’s network has experienced a 316‑day hashrate drought with little net growth in mining capacity. The rise of AI is drawing chips, capital, power and talent away from crypto mining, making it harder and more expensive for miners to expand or replace hardware. That competition raises the odds that hashrate recovery will lag any future price rebound, concentrating mining with operators that secure the cheapest power and capital. The key implication is a protracted period of relatively lower security and higher fragility for Bitcoin until mining investment and capacity rebuilding overcome AI-driven resource competition.