Bitcoin miner capitulation deepens as difficulty falls 19.9%

Bitcoin miners entered one of their longest periods of contraction by July 31, even as shares of several listed operators climbed on expectations for AI data-center revenue. Summary 19.9% difficulty decline places mining in its third-deepest ASIC-era drawdown, according to Bitcoin Magazine Pro. 12% hashrate retreat from December’s peak coincides with low hashprice and expanding artificial-intelligence contracts globally. Hut 8’s AI leases total $26.6 billion, helping explain mining stocks’ divergence from Bitcoin prices. Bitcoin Magazine Pro calculated that mining difficulty had fallen 19.9% from its peak, making the decline the third deepest since application-specific integrated circuits replaced graphics processors as the industry’s main hardware. Bitcoin miner difficulty, source: Bitcoin Magazine Pro Independent network data confirm the broader contraction. Bitcoin’s difficulty fell 0.74% on July 25 to 126.23 trillion after a larger 5% cut on July 11. The current level is about 19% below the record of roughly 156 trillion set in November 2025. Bitcoin traded near $63,100 on July 31, down about 47% over 12 months and almost 50% below its October 2025 record. That price decline ha...