Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Sees Largest Downward Adjustment Since 2021, as Cango Secures $75.5M Funding

In early February 2026, the cryptocurrency mining sector experienced significant developments, highlighted by a major downward adjustment in Bitcoin’s network difficulty and substantial funding activity within the industry.

Network Performance and Price Dynamics in Early February

During the first week of February, Bitcoin’s mining landscape showed mixed signals. According to cloverpool data, the network’s average hashrate reached approximately 1,030 EH/s during this period, with peaks approaching 1,116 EH/s and lows around 901 EH/s—representing a 9.28% increase from the previous week’s 912 EH/s. However, Bitcoin’s price trajectory painted a different picture, declining from the prior week’s $78,781 average to $68,401, marking a 13.18% decrease. The most recent data shows Bitcoin trading at $73.48K with a 24-hour gain of 7.24%, indicating some recovery momentum.

Historic Downward Difficulty Adjustment Reshapes Mining Economics

The most newsworthy development came in the form of Bitcoin’s mining difficulty experiencing the largest single downward adjustment since the summer of 2021. This downward movement brought the network’s seven-day average hashrate down to 990.08 EH/s, signaling a significant recalibration of mining conditions. Such downward adjustments typically occur when network hashrate declines substantially, making it easier for miners to validate blocks and potentially improving profitability margins for smaller operations.

Mining Companies Report Solid Output Performance

Leading mining enterprises demonstrated resilience amid market volatility. Bitdeer disclosed January mining output of 668 BTC, bringing its total Bitcoin holdings to 1,530 BTC by month’s end. Meanwhile, Canaan reported producing 83 BTC in January, with accumulated crypto reserves reaching 1,778 BTC and 3,951 ETH. These figures underscore the continued importance of professional mining operations in the ecosystem, even as difficulty levels experience downward shifts.

Cango Raises $75.5M for AI-Powered Computing Platform Transformation

In a strategic move signaling the industry’s broader evolution, Cango announced an additional $75.5 million funding round, with the capital earmarked for transformation into an AI distributed computing power platform. This development reflects growing investor confidence in the convergence of artificial intelligence and blockchain infrastructure, suggesting that distributed computing capabilities are becoming increasingly valuable as the sector matures.

Data sources: blockchain.com, cloverpool, and company disclosures