Iran’s Crypto Mining Sector Hit Hard As Hashrate Drops Nearly 80%

The US, Russia and China together control over 65% of global Bitcoin hashrate, a reminder that mining power remains heavily concentrated even as local shocks push smaller markets up and down.

In that mix, Iran has seen a sharp fall. Its hashrate dropped about 77% in the past quarter, to roughly 2 EH/s, after months of conflict and disruption.

According to a report from Hashrate Index, Iran lost about 7 EH/s quarter over quarter. The decline came during a period of rising tension with the US and Israel, with strikes and retaliation driving instability across the region.

Even so, the pullback did not spread in the same way to nearby mining hubs. The United Arab Emirates and Oman were reported to have stayed stable.

The report framed the change as a local hit rather than a network-wide threat. Global hashrate remained near 1,000 EH/s, which means the Bitcoin network kept working with little sign of strain.

That is partly because no single region has enough mining power to threaten continuity on its own. When one place weakens, other places can absorb the load.

Iran’s drop also comes with a large miner count behind it. The country is estimated to have about 427,000 active Bitcoin mining rigs. Those machines do not all run at the same efficiency, and many older units have been forced out as margins tighten.

The broader network has also been under pressure. The 30-day simple moving average for global hashrate fell from 1,066 EH/s in the first quarter to about 1,004 EH/s in the second quarter, a drop of 5.8%. The report linked that move to falling Bitcoin prices, not to energy costs or regulation.

Bitcoin has fallen more than 45% from its record high of $126,000 set in October. That drop has pushed mining revenue lower and made hash prices hit record lows.

At those levels, older machines with efficiency above 25 J/TH can run at a loss and get shut down. The report said about 252 EH/s of marginal capacity is now offline, with much of it tied to older hardware.

The story the numbers tell is simple. Mining does not stay fixed in one place for long. It moves toward cheaper power, better machines and higher margins.

When those conditions fade, rigs are switched off or shipped elsewhere. That is what happened in this case, with Iran taking the biggest hit while the wider network kept moving.

Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView