Quick Breakdown
- Foundry USA slashes hashrate 60% from 340 EH/s to 198 EH/s during US winter storm Fern.
- Luxor drops from 45 EH/s to 21.9 EH/s; total network pullback hits 260 EH/s with block times at 12 minutes.
- Miners ease grid strain as flexible loads, but BTC price slump and 18c/kWh power costs fuel sector pivot.
A fierce Arctic blast swept the United States in late January 2026, forcing major Bitcoin mining pools to unplug over 110 EH/s of hashrate, according to reports.
Due to extreme winter storms in the U.S., multiple mining farms across the country have experienced power outages. Bitcoin’s total hashrate dropped by approximately 30% in a short period, a decrease of about 260 EH/s. Roughly 1.3 million mining rigs have been shut down as they… pic.twitter.com/75DniLUDh8
— Leon Lyu (@LeonLyuLv) January 26, 2026
Foundry USA, the largest pool globally, cut operations from nearly 340 EH/s to 198 EH/s since Friday, while Luxor fell from 45 EH/s to 21.9 EH/s. Storm Fern strained power grids across Texas to New England, spiking heating demand, causing outages for over one million homes, and prompting conservation calls from operators. Miners acted swiftly as controllable loads, slowing block production to 12 minutes and marking Bitcoin’s first difficulty drop since September 2025. This event spotlights miners’ hidden superpower: they balance grids better than any battery farm.
Matthew Sigel, Head of digital assets research at VanEck, highlighted the potential role of Bitcoin miners in stabilizing power grids during severe weather. In response to the tragic power outages affecting over a million Americans in the eastern US due to the winter storm, Sigel noted that several publicly-listed Bitcoin miners, including CLSK, RIOT, and BTDR, have significant capacity near the affected areas.
Tragic that 1M+ Americans are without power due to the winter storm impacting the eastern U.S.
Some public bitcoin miners have meaningful capacity in or near affected regions, and several such as CLSK, RIOT, BTDR and others are structurally set up to act as flexible loads via… pic.twitter.com/2lKY2jQiiC
— matthew sigel, recovering CFA (@matthew_sigel) January 25, 2026
Crucially, these companies are structured to serve as flexible loads through utility demand response programs, such as those offered by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). While real-time curtailments for this specific storm were unconfirmed, Sigel emphasized that this model has already proven its value during previous periods of high grid demand.
Miners prove grid heroes in crisis.
Operators like CleanSpark, Riot Platforms, and Bitdeer joined demand response programmes, such as Tennessee Valley Authority’s, to sell power back during peaks. Texas miners repeated their 2022 heroics, curtailing amid renewable swings, with the state hosting nearly half of US hashrate—36% of the global total. Yet profits erode fast: electricity rose 10.5% yearly to 18 cents/kWh by late 2025, while BTC miner reserves hit 2018 lows.
While US Bitcoin miners heroically stabilize grids amid profit woes and price slumps, countries like Turkmenistan are opening new, regulated frontiers, suggesting the global mining sector’s challenges and opportunities are rapidly shifting.
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