The Bitcoin network is facing a severe test from the American winter. In January, an extreme cold wave paralyzed large parts of the United States, causing a sharp slowdown in mining activity. As the US now accounts for a significant portion of the global hashrate, this episode highlighted the industry’s dependence on local energy infrastructure. The sudden drop in production raises questions about whether the network can truly withstand extreme climate shocks and reveals the limits of a model theoretically considered resilient.
Cold shock to Bitcoin production
While Bitcoin faces the threat of falling below $50,000, CryptoQuant reports that "data shows large listed US mining companies saw their combined daily production drop from 70–90 Bitcoin to just 30–40 during the storm." This decline occurred between January 14 and 17 and coincided with a particularly severe weather event that struck vast regions of the United States, causing intense pressure on electrical grids. Among the companies affected were Core Scientific, CleanSpark, Marathon, Riot Platforms, Iris Energy, Bitfarms, TeraWulf, and Cipher Mining, which were forced to adjust their operations immediately.
Analysts point out that specific measures were taken to prevent the collapse of local energy systems. Mining activity was voluntarily restricted to relieve overloaded grids, and computational power was reduced in a coordinated manner across the hardest-hit states, particularly Texas. In several farms, machines were partially or fully taken offline during peak hours. Simultaneously, there was close communication between mining companies and energy authorities to predict demand spikes. The immediate consequence was a temporary collapse in block production, which affected the rate of transaction validation on the network. These moves demonstrate the industry’s rapid response to a sudden climate crisis but also reveal an increasing vulnerability of Bitcoin mining to external factors.
Hashrate plunge and economic pressure
Beyond the production decrease in listed companies, the entire Bitcoin network was affected, according to Cointribune. The global hashrate recorded a sharp drop during the same period, indicating a massive shutdown of hardware in the affected regions. As CryptoQuant notes, these events caused a significant reduction in the computational power available to the network, highlighting its sensitivity to extreme weather phenomena.
This temporary contraction had tangible economic consequences. According to data from YCharts, daily revenue from mining fell to approximately $28.3 million on January 14, one of the lowest levels in the past year. For miners already operating on the edge of profitability, this volatility translates into real financial suffocation, exacerbated by the stagnation of Bitcoin's price during the same period. Some analysts also warn that the growing dependence on weather conditions may slow future investments in regions with unstable energy environments.
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