Live markets: Bitcoin has traded below its mining cost for five months, squeezing miners

live Updated just now Live markets: Bitcoin has traded below its mining cost for five months, squeezing miners By Shaurya Malwa Make preferred on Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email just now · 5:04 AM Shaurya Malwa Share Share this post Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email JPMorgan estimates it costs about $78,000 to mine one bitcoin, forcing about a fifth of miners to operate at a loss Bitcoin has spent five straight months trading below what it costs to produce, squeezing miners and forcing some to sell, JPMorgan said in a note. The bank pegs the cost to mine one bitcoin at about $78,000, well above the roughly $62,500 the asset fetches now. The strain is showing and about 20% of miners are now unprofitable, the bank said citing CoinShares data, and publicly traded miners sold more than 32,000 bitcoin in the first quarter to cover operating costs, more than they offloaded in all of 2025. The network is adjusting on its own. When the price drops below cost, higher-cost miners power down, the hashrate, or total computing power securing the network, falls, and mining difficulty, the automatic setting for how hard it is to mine, resets lower. That played out in early June, when difficulty dropped 10%, the second decline of that size this year. Miners are also reacting faster than before. JPMorgan says the sensitivity of difficulty to price has climbed, with more operators sitting near breakeven and flipping machines on or off as prices move. The bank expects larger and more frequent adjustments for as long as bitcoin stays below its production cost. The outlook is cautious, but JPMorgan flags one upside. The weak sentiment around the sector could itself prove a bullish contrarian signal, echoing the run of accumulation readings, from whale buying to falling exchange reserves, pointing the same way this month. Latest Crypto News 1 Bitcoin traders load up on bearish bets all the way down to $52,000 2 minutes ago 2 Bitcoin falls below $63,000 as risk assets sell off and the week's bounce fades 15 minutes ago 3 Ex-Celsius CEO Mashinsky gets U.S. CFTC ban in final resolution with regulator 9 hours ago 4 U.S. agencies seek stablecoin customer-ID rules akin to banks in new GENIUS Act pitch 11 hours ago 5 Ethereum Foundation loses another key leader as co-executive director Hsiao-Wei Wang resigns 13 hours ago 6 Crypto for Advisors: Trading the bitcoin cycle 14 hours ago 7 Algorand unveils roadmap to achieve quantum resistance by 2028 15 hours ago 8 CoinDesk 20 performance update: Stellar (XLM) jumps 10% while index declines 15 hours ago 9 Alchemy's AI-driven identity and payment service gains access to Visa network 16 hours ago 10 Hive shares jumps 10% on $220m Canada sovereign AI infrastructure deal 17 hours ago Latest Research CEX Volumes Drop to Lowest Since September 2024 as RWA Perps Hit Record High CEX Volumes Drop to Lowest Since September 2024 as RWA Perps Hit Record High In May, combined exchange volumes fell 3.45% to $4.41T; the lowest since September 2024. RWA perpetual futures volumes rose 10.4% against the trend, hitting a new all-time high. By CoinDesk Research Jun 15, 2026 In May, combined exchange volumes fell 3.45% to $4.41T; the lowest since September 2024. RWA perpetual futures volumes rose 10.4% against the trend, hitting a new all-time high. Why it matters : In May, combined exchange volumes fell 3.45% to $4.41T; the lowest since September 2024. RWA perpetual futures volumes rose 10.4% against the trend, hitting a new all-time high. View Full Report More From Markets Bitcoin traders load up on bearish bets all the way down to $52,000 Bitcoin falls below $63,000 as risk assets sell off and the week's bounce fades Hive shares jumps 10% on $220m Canada sovereign AI infrastructure deal