PANews reported on February 20th that, according to CoinDesk, Bitcoin mining difficulty has increased to 144.4 T, a 15% increase, marking the largest percentage rise since 2021. Prior to this adjustment, mining difficulty had decreased by 12% due to miners scaling back operations caused by winter storms in the United States.

The Bitcoin network hashrate has now recovered to 1 ZH/s, while the price of Bitcoin has rebounded to around $67,000. Although the hash rate is at a multi-decade low of 23.9 PH/s, limiting miners' profit margins, large operators with access to low-cost energy are still actively mining. Among them, mining operations in the United Arab Emirates hold approximately $344 million in unrealized profits.

In addition, some listed mining companies are shifting their energy and computing power to AI and high-performance computing data centers. For example, Bitfarms (BITF) has announced a name change to downplay its Bitcoin identity and increase its focus on AI infrastructure, and activist investor Starboard has urged Riot Platforms (RIOT) to further expand its AI data center business.