Bitcoin mining hashrate stopped shrinking in the third quarter of 2026, but the machines producing that compute are continuing to move around the world.
Hashrate Index’s new Q4 2026 Global Hashrate Heatmap puts the network at roughly 941 EH/s, essentially flat from about 940 EH/s in the previous quarter. The headline number barely moved, but underneath it the United States lost another 10 EH/s, Russia added about 8 EH/s, Ethiopia dropped roughly 8 EH/s, and Pakistan more than tripled its estimated contribution.
The primary dataset and quarterly analysis are available through Hashrate Index’s Q4 2026 heatmap update and its interactive Global Hashrate Heatmap.
The Network Is Flat, Not Recovered
Hashrate Index estimates that global hashrate finished the quarter at about 941 EH/s, up only around 0.1% quarter over quarter. That followed declines of roughly 6.3% and 5.8% in the two previous quarters.
So “flat” does not mean mining capacity has returned to its previous high. The estimate remains about 8.7% below the prior year and roughly 15% below the November 2025 peak near 1,110 EH/s.
That fits with the pressure we have already been tracking through Bitcoin mining difficulty, low hashprice, and an estimated 235 EH/s of ASIC capacity sitting idle. When revenue per unit of compute falls, older and less efficient machines become the first capacity to disappear.
The United States Still Leads, but Its Share Is Falling
The United States remains the largest Bitcoin mining market in Hashrate Index’s estimate at about 335 EH/s, or 35.6% of global hashrate. But that is down from about 345 EH/s and 36.7% in the previous quarter.
It is the third consecutive quarterly decline for the U.S. The longer-term estimate is even more noticeable: Hashrate Index places U.S. hashrate at roughly 389 EH/s a year earlier, meaning the country is down about 14% year over year.
The decline does not mean American Bitcoin mining infrastructure is disappearing. Some operators are retiring marginal ASIC miners, while others are redirecting scarce power and cooling infrastructure toward AI and high-performance computing data centers.
Russia Climbs to 18.1%
Russia moved in the opposite direction. Hashrate Index estimates Russian mining capacity increased from about 162 EH/s to 170 EH/s, lifting its global share to 18.1%.
That is the highest Russian share in this version of the heatmap series and narrows the U.S.–Russia gap. BitcoinVersus previously covered the legal framework that emerged when Russia legalized Bitcoin mining; the newer data shows the country now holding a much larger share of global compute than it did during earlier phases of the industry.
China Remains No. 3
China remains third at an estimated 110 EH/s, or 11.7% of global hashrate. That is down from around 115 EH/s in the previous quarter and roughly 145 EH/s a year earlier.
The estimate is another reminder that mining activity can persist even under restrictive policy conditions. BitcoinVersus has tracked that contradiction before, including earlier estimates showing substantial Chinese Bitcoin mining activity despite formal restrictions.
Pakistan and Venezuela Are No Longer Rounding Errors
The most dramatic percentage gains came from smaller markets. Pakistan rose from about 2.5 EH/s to roughly 8 EH/s, a 220% quarterly increase. Venezuela climbed from about 6 EH/s to roughly 10 EH/s, up around 67% quarter over quarter.
Neither country threatens the top three, but both are now large enough to matter in discussions about geographic diversification. Hashrate is not simply moving from one dominant country to another; portions of it are also finding low-cost, stranded, or underused energy in smaller jurisdictions.
Ethiopia Shows How Fast Power Constraints Can Remove Hashrate
Ethiopia moved sharply the other way, falling from roughly 23 EH/s to about 15 EH/s, a 35% quarterly decline. The drop follows the September decision by Ethiopian Electric Power to reduce miners to roughly 23% of contracted electricity.
BitcoinVersus covered that power cut when Ethiopia curtailed Bitcoin miners after weaker reservoir inflows constrained its hydro-heavy grid. The Q4 heatmap now gives a network-level view of the result: when megawatts disappear, the corresponding EH/s can disappear almost immediately.
The Top Three Still Control Nearly Two-Thirds
The U.S., Russia, and China together account for about 65.4% of the estimated global network, down slightly from 66.2% in the prior quarter.
Below them, Hashrate Index ranks Paraguay at about 45 EH/s, Oman at 28 EH/s, the United Arab Emirates at 26 EH/s, Canada at 22 EH/s, Indonesia at 20 EH/s, Norway at 16 EH/s, and Ethiopia at 15 EH/s.
That distribution reinforces why electricity availability, regulation, grid conditions, cooling, and access to modern high-efficiency ASIC hardware matter as much as geography itself. Mining compute goes where the complete operating equation works.
Why This Matters
A flat global hashrate number can hide a major industrial transition. In Q3, approximately the same amount of SHA-256 compute remained online overall, but meaningful chunks of that compute shifted between countries.
That matters for decentralization, mining economics, energy markets, hardware logistics, and the resilience of the network. It also means that future hashrate growth may depend less on simply manufacturing more machines and more on where miners can still secure power, deploy efficient hardware, and keep those machines economically online.
The simple takeaway is: Bitcoin’s hashrate stopped falling, but it did not stop moving.
BitcoinVersus.Tech
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Editor’s Note
BitcoinVersus.Tech publishes technical explainers and reporting for informational and educational purposes.
BitcoinVersus.tech is not a financial advisor. Content is provided for informational purposes.
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