Bitcoin's proof-of-work security just reached a new record: 780 exahashes per second (EH/s), representing more computational power than any point in the network's 17-year history. This ATH reflects massive investment in next-generation ASIC hardware, the US becoming the dominant mining jurisdiction, and institutional miners scaling aggressively post-halving.

How we got here: the post-halving mining boom

The April 2024 halving cut block rewards from 6.25 to 3.125 BTC. Many predicted a hashrate decline — instead, the opposite happened. BTC price appreciation and next-gen hardware efficiency meant that mining remained highly profitable, driving a new wave of investment. The S21 Pro (17 J/TH) and M66S (19.5 J/TH) machines represent a 40% efficiency improvement over the previous generation.

Top 5 Bitcoin mining pools by hashrate (May 2026)

PoolHashrateShareBased
Foundry USA218 EH/s28%USA
AntPool171 EH/s22%China/Global
F2Pool125 EH/s16%Global
ViaBTC94 EH/s12%Global
Binance Pool78 EH/s10%Global

Geography: the USA dominates

The United States now controls 42% of Bitcoin's global hashrate — up from 38% a year ago. Texas remains the top state thanks to abundant wind and solar energy and favorable regulation. Kentucky, Georgia, and Wyoming round out the top states. Russia (8%) and Canada (7%) are the only other significant concentrations.

"We're seeing the institutionalization of Bitcoin mining. The era of hobbyist mining is over — this is a capital-intensive industrial business now, and the US is winning it."— Fred Thiel, Marathon Digital CEO
ASIC mining hardware circuit board and electronics close-up
Next-generation ASICs like the Antminer S21 Pro operate at 17 J/TH — a 40% efficiency leap over the S19 generation, making older machines increasingly uncompetitive at current difficulty levels.

Profitability: who's making money?

At $77,081 BTC and a difficulty of 112.1T, the daily revenue per petahash is approximately $60. An S21 Pro running at 335 TH/s earns about $20/day while consuming ~$7 in electricity at $0.05/kWh — a healthy margin. Older S19 Pro machines (29 J/TH) need BTC above $68,000 to stay profitable, explaining why some older fleet is getting retired despite the hashrate ATH.