JPMorgan: Bitcoin mining network is "extremely vulnerable"! BTC has been below production costs for 5 consecutive months, and publicly listed mining companies are selling off more than the total from last year

JPMorgan’s latest analysis report indicates that the Bitcoin mining network’s sensitivity to price fluctuations has increased significantly. Due to Bitcoin prices remaining below the production cost of $78,000 for five consecutive months, many miners are operating on the brink of break-even—or even facing losses. To ease financial pressure, publicly listed mining companies sold more Bitcoin in the first quarter of this year than throughout all of last year, and are accelerating their transition into AI computing businesses.
(Background: Miners bet big on AI—stocks surge far ahead of Bitcoin, but the comeback won’t be easy)
(Additional context: Mining company BitFuFu’s Q1 financial report — loss of $35 million dragged by Bitcoin’s decline; computing power jumps 25% to above 25.9 EH/s)

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• Average price below production cost, mining companies face life and death
• Rising financial pressure, Q1 sell-off volume surpasses last year’s total
• Another way out? Miners move into AI and HPC tracks

With increased competition and price swings after Bitcoin’s halving, the global mining industry is undergoing a brutal stress test. According to a recent analysis report from Wall Street investment bank JPMorgan, as cited by foreign media outlet CoinDesk on June 22, 2026, the Bitcoin mining network’s sensitivity to price movements has risen markedly this year.

Data shows that over the past six months, the Beta value of mining difficulty relative to Bitcoin price movements has climbed sharply to 0.62. The change in this macroeconomic indicator suggests that the speed at which the network’s overall hashrate responds to market conditions has become unusually volatile.

Average price below production cost, mining companies face life and death

The report digs deep into the core reasons behind this structural change. JPMorgan points out that the 2026 mining economy continues to worsen, with Bitcoin having remained below JPMorgan’s estimated average production cost of $78,000 for five consecutive months. In addition, based on CoinShares’ report for this year’s first quarter, up to about 20% of miners are currently operating at a loss.

As more miners hover near the edge of profitability, if Bitcoin prices remain sluggish, high-cost miners will be forced to shut down their mining rigs to reduce losses. This directly leads to a sharp decline in hashrate, which in turn triggers a downward adjustment in mining difficulty. For instance, in the second week of June this year, Bitcoin mining difficulty dropped by as much as 10%, marking the second time this year such a drastic adjustment has occurred. Analysts warn that as long as Bitcoin prices fail to hold above the $78,000 threshold, frequent and large-scale adjustments in hashrate and difficulty are likely to keep happening.

Rising financial pressure, Q1 sell-off volume surpasses last year’s total

Heavy operational pressure is directly reflected in miners’ selling behavior. To cope with high capital expenditures and funding gaps, publicly listed mining giants sold more than 32,000 Bitcoins in the first quarter of 2026. What’s astonishing is that this sell-off volume over just three months already exceeded the total amount sold for all of 2025, indicating the industry’s current liquidity predicament and the urgent need to liquidate assets.

Another way out? Miners move into AI and HPC tracks

Facing the harsh reality of shrinking profits, an increasing number of mining companies are turning their attention to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) in an effort to open up more stable, higher-profit revenue sources.

JPMorgan analysts estimate that mining companies have already announced AI and HPC-related transformation deals worth hundreds of billions of dollars. However, a report from asset manager VanEck also points to a stark reality: on the path to transforming into AI, Bitcoin miners will still face hardware upgrade challenges of up to $50 billion. This means mining companies not only need to bear extremely high execution risk associated with the transformation, but also must overcome massive capital expenditure challenges—this survival battle driven by hashrate continues to reshape the entire cryptocurrency industry segment.