An intense one winter storm which swept much of the US over the weekend, forced large parts of the Bitcoin mining fleet to take out power, making the network much weaker for a short time.
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Reports say power outages and extreme weather prompted some operators to pause or slow their installations so local power grids could breathe. The result was a dramatic, albeit temporary, drop in the overall mining power that the blockchain secured.
Miners adjust power consumption
According to mining operators on the ground, the pause was intentional. Many farms turned off machines to ease pressure on regional utilities as demand spiked and production fell.
Abundant Mines, a crypto mining company headquartered in Oregon, said about 40% of global mining capacity went offline within 24 hours. That kind of rapid scaling back is possible because miners can quickly shut down and restart hardware, which in some regions acts as a large, flexible electrical load that can be trimmed as needed.
Bitcoin hashrate has fallen just below 700 EH/s
The likely cause: the winter storm hitting Texas and the Southeast, where much of U.S. mining takes place. Power outages and voluntary grid stabilization measures have taken miners offline.
What this means:
– Fewer miners online… pic.twitter.com/j0lv7bU9JN— Abundant Mines (@AbundantMines) January 25, 2026
Hashrate drop and quick recovery
Based on reports from mining trackers, network hashrate decreased started sharply on Friday and reached a low not seen in seven months on Sunday, falling to around 663 EH/s. Within about a day, as crews worked and weather systems continued to work, the figure climbed back to 854 EH/s.
Hashrate index estimates that the US supplies nearly 38% of global mining energy, making disruptions in the country quickly visible in global totals.
A report from the federal Energy Information Administration notes that there are more than 130 dedicated crypto mining sites in the US, meaning storms affecting broad regions could hit mining supply widely.
Bitcoin price action
The price moved with the headlines, but not in a straight line. Based on reports, Bitcoin traded around $88,300 on volatility, with swings related to both weather and broader geopolitical tensions.
BTCUSD now trading at 87,866. Chart: TradingView
The market had previously seen gains of nearly $96,000 during periods of geopolitical tension, while other periods brought softer prices as macro risks increased.
Traders watched intently; The temporary hashrate dip raised questions about miner revenues in the short term, but did not lead to a major crash in market value.
As the winter storm hits the US, Bitcoin mining companies are limiting operations to support the power grid.
Their daily Bitcoin production was significantly affected in recent days.
CLSK: 22 bitcoin –> 12 bitcoin
riot: 16 -> 3
MARA: 45 –> 7 (more volatile because it mines “solo”)… pic.twitter.com/SzgcbtgQ5V— Julio Moreno (@jjcmoreno) January 26, 2026
Major miners felt the impact
Analysts noted that production at some major U.S. miners fell sharply. Marathon Digital’s daily production fell from 45 coins to seven in one day, and IREN rose from 18 to six, data collected by market trackers showed.
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CryptoQuant flagged slower daily digs from several major operators when the storm hit. In Texas, reports say miners worked with grid operators to balance supply and demand, using their machines to draw on extra power when it was available and to step back when the grid was under pressure.
Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView