Bitcoin Miners' $1.08B May High Meets $66K Hangover

Bitcoin miners finally had something to celebrate, delivering their strongest revenue gain in four months as May lifted earnings past the $1 billion mark for the first time since January. The party, however, appears short-lived, with bitcoin slipping below the $66,000 mark on Tuesday before staging a modest recovery the following day. Key Takeaways: Bitcoin miners crossed $1.086B in May revenue, the first billion-dollar month since January. Hashprice dropped 17.82% in 30 days, pushing the daily value per PH/s to just $30.77. A potential 7.5% difficulty cut around June 13 could ease pressure on surviving miners.

The bitcoin mining sector is grappling with hashprice levels not seen since early April, with the daily value per petahash per second (PH/s) slipping 17.82% from a month ago. Data from hashrateindex.com shows the daily revenue generated by 1 PH/s was $37.44 just 30 days ago, whereas today that figure has eased to roughly $30.77. Outside of the current period, April, and much of the stretch between Feb. 18 and late March, hashprice maintained noticeably stronger levels. Tuesday's intraday low of $65,362 is more than enough to make miners uneasy, as low prices continue to place significant strain on profitability. This is gradually dragging down hashpower, with the hashrate dropping from the 1,000 EH/s range to below 975 EH/s.

Current statistics and estimates. All three of these figures can change. Image source: hashrateindex.com at 8 p.m. ET on June 2, 2026.

One factor working in miners' favor: a reduction in computational power has pushed block intervals beyond the network's 10-minute target. At press time, 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday, blocks were being produced at an average pace of 10 minutes and 49 seconds. If the current pace holds through roughly June 13, the network's mining difficulty is expected to adjust downward. Current estimates point to a potential 7.5% decrease in network difficulty — a small gift for the survivors.

Bitcoin miners enjoyed a strong May from a revenue standpoint, with monthly earnings climbing above the $1 billion mark for the first time since January. According to newhedge.io stats, miners generated $1.086 billion during the month, with $1.079 billion of that total derived from the 3.125 $BTC block subsidy. In other words, transaction fees contributed virtually nothing to the month's revenue haul. Bitcoin mining revenue was the best month since January 2026. Image source: newhedge.io

More recently, transaction fees have ticked up slightly after accounting for less than 0.6% of the total block reward for an extended period. Over the past 24 hours, average fee revenue has edged higher, representing roughly 1.16% of the overall block reward. That modest increase in fees, coupled with a likely difficulty reduction, gives miners a small buffer while $BTC prices remain under pressure, though it does little to alter the broader economic reality facing the industry.

Miners came into June with a strong May at their backs. Whether that carries them through the next few weeks depends on where bitcoin goes from here.