Bitcoin miners are experiencing a favourable shift due to the recent price increase, as hashprice has risen from a daily rate of $31.80 per petahash per second (PH/s) on August 18 to $38.29 PH/s as of Saturday, August 22. Hashprice quantifies the revenue potential for a bitcoin miner based on a defined amount of hashrate, specifically a petahash in this instance. There are approximately 1,000 terahash per second (TH/s) in one petahash, and several of the leading mining machines available today are exceeding or nearing that level of processing power. At prevailing hashprice levels, a Bitmain Antminer S23 Hydro 3U, generating 1.16 PH/s, is projected to yield approximately $17.86 in daily profit, assuming an electricity cost of $0.10 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
The S23 Hydro 3U currently occupies the leading position in the SHA-256 application-specific integrated circuit market in terms of profitability. Below it is Bitdeer’s Sealminer A4 Ultra Hydro, boasting a processing power of 886 TH/s. At the time of writing, utilising the same $0.10 per kWh costs and the current hashprice, the Sealminer A4 Ultra Hydro generates an estimated $13.75 per day. With reduced electricity expenses, ASICs universally, encompassing devices from MicroBT and Canaan, are consistently generating profits. The next challenge miners face is difficulty, yet this too seems to be shifting in their favour. Block times are currently slightly exceeding the 10-minute average, clocking in at 10 minutes and 5 seconds. At this rate, the difficulty adjustment scheduled for today, August 22, 2026, is anticipated to decrease by one percentage point.
At this time, 133 major, midsized, and even extremely small mining pools, including solo-style operations, are allocating hashrate to the Bitcoin network. As of August 22, Foundry USA is at the forefront with a processing power of 214.73 EH/s directed toward the blockchain, while Antpool holds a significant position with 156.17 EH/s, and F2pool trails behind with 110.62 EH/s. ViaBTC commands 91.02 EH/s, securing the fourth position, while Secpool and Spiderpool are tied for fifth place, each with approximately 65.07 EH/s. While total computational power remained below 900 EH/s, it now approaches 922 EH/s, positioning Bitcoin close to the 1 zettahash threshold.
While hashprice has climbed, data logged by newhedge.io shows that August still trails July’s total revenue. However, miners have a solid week left to close the gap. To date, bitcoin miners have accrued $682.69 million from block subsidies and fees, with a mere $5.14 million derived from transaction fees. That still leaves miners pursuing the $875 million collected in July. Bitcoin miners have faced significant challenges during the bear market following the decline of BTC from its peak of just above $126,000 in October 2025. This week’s rally has finally eased the constraints, creating a more favourable environment for mining participants and enhancing SHA-256 profitability. The inquiry pertains to the sustainability of the situation. For now, only time will reveal whether BTC’s bear market hangover is indeed dissipating, and miners will experience the change directly.
