Bitcoin’s mining network has gone through one of its biggest difficulty drops ever. The change shows that many miners are struggling because lower bitcoin prices have reduced their profits.

Bitcoin mining difficulty dropped by 10.09% at block 953,568 during the weekend, from 138.96 trillion to 124.93 trillion.

The difficulty change probably happened because mining became less profitable. Bitcoin’s price fell sharply during June, which reduced miners’ income. As a result, some mining companies, especially those using older machines or paying high electricity costs, stopped running part of their equipment.

Galaxy Research revealed in a report that this was the 11th-largest difficulty decrease in Bitcoin’s history and the second-largest drop in 2026.

Bitcoin automatically changes mining difficulty every 2,016 blocks, which is usually about every two weeks. The purpose is to keep new blocks being created at a steady speed of around one block every ten minutes.

When fewer miners are active, blocks take longer to create. The network responds by lowering difficulty so remaining miners can continue producing blocks at a normal pace.

This time, the previous mining period lasted about 15.6 days instead of the normal 14 days. That showed the network had slowed because less computing power was available.

Galaxy Research connected the slowdown to bitcoin’s recent price weakness. The company said that “a ~15% June price slide squeezed miner margins,” causing some mining power to leave the network.

For miners that stayed online, the lower difficulty brings some short-term relief. With less competition, they can earn more bitcoin using the same amount of computing power.

However, analysts say this does not mean bitcoin’s price will automatically recover.

Difficulty adjustments are technical changes that help the network operate normally. They are not trading signals.

Mining companies are still dealing with several problems at once. Lower bitcoin prices, weaker transaction fee income, energy costs, and operating expenses continue to put pressure on profits.

Industry estimates showed that bitcoin’s market price moved close to the average cost of producing new coins. That means many miners are making very little profit or none at all.

Older mining equipment is under the most pressure. Newer machines can produce more computing power while using less electricity, allowing larger companies to stay competitive.

Another change happening in the industry is the move toward artificial intelligence and high-performance computing. Some mining companies are shifting energy and infrastructure away from Bitcoin mining and into AI-related services.

Energy management may also be affecting mining activity in places such as Texas, where miners sometimes reduce operations during periods of high electricity demand.