Bitcoin mining difficulty drops 3% as miners pivot to AI
May 3, 2026
Sixth difficulty cut of 2026 lands as public miners sold over 32,000 BTC in Q1 to fund AI infrastructure
Sixth difficulty cut of 2026 lands as public miners sold over 32,000 BTC in Q1 to fund AI infrastructure
Public bitcoin miners are selling BTC and signing $70B in AI contracts as production costs hit $80,000 per coin, per CoinShares data.
MARA Holdings sold 15,133 BTC for $1.1 billion and used the proceeds to buy back $1 billion in convertible notes at 9% below par, cutting total debt by 30%.