Miners Unplug 23% as AI Revenue Surges 52%
Bitcoin (BTC)
Editor:
Eugene Serbin
bitcoinethereumnews.com reports that public miners shed an estimated 56 EH/s of realized hashrate in the first half of 2026, a 15% contraction that was largely redirected toward AI retrofits. Directly reported high-performance computing and AI revenue among comparable miners rose 52% from the first quarter, with some companies seeing AI revenue overtake mining revenue for the first time. This transition requires heavy capital expenditure, with 14 companies spending $18.6 billion in a single aligned quarter.
TheEnergyMag estimates recurring HPC revenue for six shell providers ranges from $86 to $300 per MWh, with a median of about $180. In contrast, full-stack operators like Bitdeer reported AI-cloud revenue density of approximately $1,213 per MWh, which is more than eight times the revenue from an S21 Pro miner. Colocation revenue is generally contracted for years and may pass electricity costs to customers, whereas bitcoin revenue changes continuously with market conditions.
Zcash mining currently generates an estimated $585.61 per MWh, making it temporarily more revenue-dense than most colocation agreements. The Economics of AI cloud remain in a different league, with a median of $940.74 per MWh compared to $179.13 per MWh from an S23 Hyd. Miner Weekly notes that while miners want AI tenants for revenue, capex explains why only some will create attractive returns.
PwC estimates the broader AI data-center buildout could require $31.6 trillion through 2050. The conversion is expensive, with PwC noting the massive scale of required infrastructure spending. CoreWeave paid approximately $322 per MWh for hosting, illustrating the cost difference between neoclouds and miner-turned-landlords. The source highlights that revenue per MWh explains the shift, but the underlying economics of contracted leases versus liquid mining markets differ significantly.
How the market reacted
Whalio's own Binance spot order flow for BTC, measured when this story was written up on 6 September 2026. Not the outlet's figures.
Bitcoin is trading at $79,831.75 with a 1-hour buy ratio of 43.5% and a 4-hour buy ratio of 36.6%, both falling below the 24-hour buy ratio of 46.7%. This indicates that buying pressure is fading in the short term, as the shorter timeframes show weaker demand than the daily average. The volume delta is negative across all periods, with -$2,325,823 in the last hour and -$36,639,306 over four hours. A negative volume delta means that sell volume has exceeded buy volume during these intervals. Over the last 24 hours, the cumulative volume delta stands at -$48,465,149, confirming sustained selling pressure. Spot volume for the day is $727,162,100, with over 1.2 million trades recorded.
The latest daily buy ratio of 46.7% sits at the 18th percentile of the last 322 days, against a median of 49.2% - weaker buying than most days.
Was that an ordinary day?
The same Binance spot measurements for BTC, averaged over the days leading up to the story.
The current 24-hour buy ratio of 46.7% is lower than the 7-day average of 50.9%, showing a deviation of 4.2 percentage points. Volume is also down, sitting at 0.66 times the weekly average. This suggests that today is an unusual day for the coin, characterized by weaker buying interest and reduced trading activity compared to the recent norm. While the price has risen 2.0% over the past eight days, the recent flow data shows a contraction in bullish momentum. The weekly volume delta was positive at $134,734,438, contrasting with the negative delta seen in the last 24 hours.