US Bitcoin Mining Pools Lose Nearly Half of Hashrate

The hashrate of major US-based bitcoin mining pools dropped sharply over the weekend amid widespread power outages caused by severe winter weather. Industry data shows that American mining capacity declined by nearly half in just two days, affecting overall network performance.

The most significant decline was recorded by Foundry USA, the world’s largest bitcoin mining pool by reported hashrate. On Friday evening, January 23, Foundry’s hashrate exceeded 340 EH/s, but by Monday morning, January 26, it had fallen by roughly 200 EH/s. This represents a temporary loss of almost 60% of the pool’s computing power.

Winter storm disrupts power supply for miners

The sudden drop in hashrate was triggered by a powerful winter storm across large parts of the United States. The weather system brought freezing rain, heavy snowfall, and strong winds, leading to extensive damage to power infrastructure and widespread electricity outages.

According to US grid operators, more than one million households lost power during the storm. These disruptions also affected industrial consumers, including data centers and bitcoin mining facilities. As reported by TheMinerMag, many mining operations were forced to shut down equipment due to limited electricity supply.

The hashrate decline at Foundry USA alone had a measurable impact on the Bitcoin network. Average block times increased to around 12 minutes, exceeding the protocol’s target and temporarily slowing transaction confirmations.

Other US-linked mining pools also affected

Other mining pools with a strong US presence reported similar trends. Luxor, for example, saw its hashrate fall from 45 EH/s to 26 EH/s over the same period. Analysts note that extreme weather events remain a major operational risk for miners in North America.

Market participants expect hashrate levels to recover as power grids stabilize. However, the incident highlights the ongoing vulnerability of large-scale bitcoin mining to energy infrastructure disruptions and climate-related risks.

Read also: US Bitcoin Miners Prepare for Severe Winter Storm