American blizzard devastates power grid! Bitcoin mining farms experience massive outages, with total network hash rate temporarily evaporating by 200EH/s

The US blizzard impacts the power grid, causing Bitcoin hash rate to drop by approximately 10% in a single day. Mining pools have limited power and shut down, slowing block production, highlighting the risks of hash rate concentration and energy dependency, which pose immediate pressure on blockchain security.

The Blizzard Sweeps Across the US, Hash Rate Drops About 10% in One Day

A large-scale winter storm spanning the southern, midwestern, and northeastern United States has recently caused severe impacts on local power grids, also affecting global Bitcoin mining operations. On-chain data shows that the overall Bitcoin network hash rate has decreased by about 10% in a short period, equivalent to roughly 200 EH/s of computational capacity temporarily offline, marking a rare real-time stress test in recent years.

Image source: The Weather Channel The winter storm “Fern” is affecting large areas of the United States

Hash rate represents the computational resources needed to maintain blockchain operation and process transactions. When hash rate drops sharply, block production slows temporarily until the next difficulty adjustment occurs, affecting network processing capacity. During this event, the average block time extended from about 10 minutes to over 12 minutes, indicating a significant decline in the network’s real-time throughput.

Major US mining pools shut down due to power restrictions, with a single pool’s hash rate plunging 60%

The most affected are domestic US mining pools. Data shows that Foundry USA’s hash rate, which holds a leading market share, has fallen sharply by about 60% from its peak, equivalent to nearly 200 EH/s of computational capacity being paused. Other US-dependent pools, such as Luxor, also experienced a decline from approximately 45 EH/s to about 26 EH/s.

Image source: Hashrate Index Hash rate distribution across different Bitcoin mining pools

This decline in hash rate is not due to equipment failure but is a proactive load reduction by mining farms in coordination with power grid dispatch. When extreme cold increases residential electricity demand, grid operators require large electricity consumers to reduce load to prevent system overload or infrastructure damage. Bitcoin mining farms, which can quickly shut down and restart, have been incorporated into “interruptible load” mechanisms in recent years, prioritizing power supply to households and medical facilities during emergencies.

Hash rate concentration risks emerge, with regional power outages amplifying into system-wide events

Academic research has long indicated that when mining hash rate is overly concentrated in a few regions or pools, local infrastructure issues can escalate into network-wide stress events. Over the past few years, the top 2 pools have maintained over 50% of the hash rate, and the top 6 pools account for 80% to 90%, reducing the network’s resilience to regional shocks.

The recent blizzard in the US caused power outages for over 1 million households, exposing the close ties between mining activities and power grid infrastructure. Although the Bitcoin network itself was not interrupted, the risks of slower blocks, delayed transaction confirmations, and fee volatility increased in the short term. This also serves as a reminder that the decentralized protocol layer still relies on highly centralized physical energy systems.

Resilient power usage models can be a double-edged sword; AI era may change the role of mining farms

In recent years, demand response participation by mining farms has been viewed as a new buffer for stabilizing power grids. When electricity is abundant, farms can absorb excess power; during demand surges, they can quickly shut down to release power, forming a flexible regulation mechanism. However, this model also means that mining hash rate is more susceptible to significant fluctuations under extreme weather conditions.

More notably, some mining infrastructure is gradually shifting toward AI and high-performance computing. Compared to Bitcoin mining, which can be interrupted at any time, AI training and data center loads typically cannot be frequently shut down. If future energy-intensive computing shifts more toward non-interruptible workloads, a new structural change may emerge in the balance between grid dispatch and blockchain security.

This content is summarized by Crypto Agent from various sources, reviewed and edited by “Crypto City.” It is still in the training phase and may contain logical biases or informational errors. The content is for reference only and should not be considered investment advice.