Key Takeaways
- With Bitcoin price trading around $88,000 and the average nationwide cost of energy at about $0.14, the cost of mining a Bitcoin is close to $95,000.
- The high cost of energy and the current Bitcoin price range put miners at a loss.
- A sizeable number of mining companies are now transitioning to AI data centres
Bitcoin mining energy consumption data from the Cambridge Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index (CBECI) indicates that miners who pay $0.10 per kWh for energy will be at a loss for every Bitcoin mined. The CBECI data shows that some have already faced this price as far back as October 2025, when the average commercial energy cost moved to $0.14 per kWh. At this rate, the cost of mining a Bitcoin is around $94,000, while the Bitcoin price is around $88,000 at press time.
With the rise in energy costs and declining Bitcoin price, Bitcoin mining is now unprofitable and perhaps unsustainable for miners across the United States. Present market conditions do not suggest any upswing for BTC anytime soon. After losing momentum and plummeting from an all-time peak of $126,000 over three months ago, it has struggled and has been unable to stage a comeback. Miners in the United States are feeling the heat with no relief in sight. However, it’s not just in the U.S.; Chinese miners are also struggling with energy costs, paying $0.11 per kWh to mine BTC, a rate that also puts many of them at a loss.
Meanwhile, miners in Paraguay are still very much in business since the energy cost is significantly cheaper at $0.05 per kWh. The mining cost of a Bitcoin for Paraguay-based miners is about $60,000, showing their healthy profit margin.
US miners switch to AI
In an unsurprising turn of events, numerous prominent miners such as TeraWulf, CleanSpark, IREN, Core Scientific, and Bit Digital, among many others, are focusing infrastructure on AI data center services and switching from crypto mining.
For those still mining, a positive shift in macroeconomic factors to trigger a rebound for Bitcoin would restore normalcy and stop debt accumulation. However, fingers remain crossed as the market action unfolds.
