The global Bitcoin mining network was almost unchanged in the third quarter of 2026, but where that mining takes place continued to shift.

The United States, Russia and China still account for nearly two-thirds of global Bitcoin mining, according to a recent report from Hashrate Index. Together, the three countries represented about 65.4% of the network's total hashrate, down from 66.2% in the previous quarter.

The US remained the largest mining country, but its share fell. Russia gained ground, while China's estimated mining activity declined.

Hashrate Index estimates that US miners produced about 335 EH/s during the quarter, down from 345 EH/s previously. The US share of global hashrate fell from 36.7% to 35.6% while Russia moved in the opposite direction.

Russia’s estimated hashrate rose from 162 EH/s to 170 EH/s, increasing its share from 17.2% to 18.1%. China remained in third place. Its estimated hashrate fell from about 115 EH/s to 110 EH/s, reducing its share from 12.2% to 11.7%.

Despite these changes, the same three countries remain far ahead of the rest of the world.

The shift also does not mean that Bitcoin mining machines moved directly from the US to Russia.

The country figures show where mining activity is estimated to be taking place, not where individual machines have moved. Country totals may change even when equipment stops operating in one country and different equipment begins operating in another.

According to the report, the total Bitcoin network hashrate was estimated at about 941 EH/s, compared with around 940 EH/s in the previous quarter. That may look like almost the same, but it is better described as a pause in the decline. Global hashrate had fallen during the two previous quarters.

The latest Hashrate Index update describes the situation clearly: "The map is no longer shrinking, but it continues to redistribute."

In other words, roughly the same amount of mining power remained online, but more of it was operating in different countries. Some of the biggest changes came outside the three leading mining countries.

Pakistan's estimated hashrate jumped from about 2.5 EH/s to 8 EH/s, while Venezuela increased from roughly 6 EH/s to 10 EH/s. Indonesia also gained about 3 EH/s, reaching around 20 EH/s.

At the same time, Ethiopia suffered a sharp decline, falling from approximately 23 EH/s to 15 EH/s. Ethiopia's decline was linked to restrictions on electricity supplied to Bitcoin miners.

Ethiopian Electric Power reportedly reduced miners' electricity allocation to about 23% of their contracted amount in September after weaker reservoir inflows affected the country's hydroelectric system.

The development illustrates how closely Bitcoin mining depends on electricity availability.

Other countries are seeing mining capacity decline for different reasons. In the United States, Canada and the United Arab Emirates, some operators are increasingly directing power and data-center infrastructure toward artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.

Some mining facilities are therefore being converted to other uses, while other machines may simply be temporarily switched off because mining is no longer profitable enough.

The reports also caution against treating geographic concentration as the same thing as control over Bitcoin mining.

Knowing that a certain percentage of hashrate is located in a country does not reveal who owns the machines or who controls the mining pools coordinating them.

Mining pools can coordinate work for many independent miners. As a result, physical location and control over block production are not necessarily the same thing.

For this reason, the slight decline in the top-three countries' combined share does not by itself prove that Bitcoin mining has become significantly more decentralized.

The latest estimates point to a Bitcoin mining industry that is changing location rather than simply growing or shrinking.