ChainThink reports that on March 22, according to The Block, Bitcoin mining difficulty adjusted at block height 941,472 (March 21), decreasing by 7.76% to 133.79 T. The network’s average hash rate over the past seven days is currently 937.76 EH/s. This marks the second-largest decline this year, following the larger 11.16% reduction on February 7.
In February, JPMorgan analysts estimated that Bitcoin mining costs had fallen from $90,000 to $77,000 as high-cost operators exited, yet still remain above the spot price. This difficulty adjustment reflects not only cyclical price pressure but also structural changes. An increasing number of publicly traded mining companies are shifting their infrastructure from Bitcoin mining to AI computing services. Core Scientific stated it expects to sell the majority of its Bitcoin holdings by 2026 to fund expansion in AI and high-performance computing; Bitdeer liquidated its entire Bitcoin reserve to zero in February, and as of its weekly report on March 21, Bitdeer’s Bitcoin holdings remained at zero. Companies such as Cango, Riot Platforms, TeraWulf, IREN, CleanSpark, and Bitfarms have also implemented similar diversification strategies over the past several quarters.