Bitcoin mining profitability has come under heavy pressure this week. Data cited from Antpool shows that at a standard power cost of $0.08 per kilowatt-hour, several machines, including the Antminer S19 XP+ Hydro, Whatsminer M60S, and Avalon A1466I, have already fallen below their shutdown prices, meaning they are no longer economical to keep online.
Older and mid-range machines are first to slip underwater
The squeeze is being driven by two factors at once: weaker bitcoin prices and persistently high network difficulty. On Feb. 2, bitcoin fell to a multi-month low at just above $74,500. It later stabilized, but the hit to mining margins was already visible. The report notes that bitcoin is down more than 10% since the start of the year, a move that has weighed especially hard on smaller operations.
Under those market conditions, older and mid-tier hardware has lost its operating cushion first. Antpool’s figures indicate that machines once widely used across the sector can no longer cover their costs at the assumed electricity rate. For miners without access to cheaper energy, the choice is getting blunt. Shut down or absorb losses.
The S21 series is nearing its critical range
Pressure is no longer limited to aging equipment. As of 6 p.m. EST on Feb. 3, 2026, with bitcoin trading near $75,000, the Antminer S21, S21+, and S21 Hyd. were reported to be close to their viability threshold. Their critical shutdown range was listed at roughly $69,000 to $74,000.
Cryptoquant said in a recent report that the miner profit and loss sustainability index has dropped to its lowest level in 14 months. The firm added that miners are being “extremely underpaid” for the computing power they supply to the network. That leaves even newer mainstream rigs with a much thinner margin of safety than they had before.
Newest flagship units remain profitable while difficulty stays elevated
Some hardware is still holding up. Bitmain’s newer flagship miners, the Antminer U3S23H and Antminer S23 Hydro, which began shipping earlier this year, retain comparatively low shutdown prices estimated to be above $44,000. Because of their stronger energy efficiency and higher hashrate performance, they are still generating healthy daily returns.
The broader operating backdrop is also tight. A severe winter storm in North America recently forced several large-scale miners to curtail activity in order to protect power grids. At the same time, bitcoin network difficulty only edged down 1% in early 2026 to 146.4 trillion, leaving it close to historic highs. If bitcoin remains well below its October 2025 peak, miners will be watching whether more rigs go offline and whether that eventually feeds into a lower difficulty adjustment.