What happened.

Bitcoin mining is facing pressure on several fronts. Mining difficulty has fallen 14% from this year’s high as revenues decline and operators pivot. At the same time, SBI Crypto, described in the record as a major Japanese pool, shut its Bitcoin service.

The record also says three mega-miners have captured roughly 60% of Bitcoin network hashrate. Separately, Russia extended a mining ban to the Moscow region through 2032. Together, these developments point to a period of changing mining economics, potential geographic reshuffling, and renewed attention to concentration.

Why it matters.

A lower difficulty level can indicate that mining capacity is being withdrawn or repositioned when operating conditions become less attractive. A pool exit alongside substantial hashrate held by a small group of miners raises a structural question about how broadly Bitcoin’s mining activity is distributed.

The jurisdictional picture is also relevant. If restrictions and weaker economics displace capacity, the next question is where that capacity goes and whether the reported concentration changes.

What to watch

Watch where displaced or pivoting mining capacity lands, whether SBI Crypto’s exit is followed by other service changes, and how the share held by the three reported mega-miners evolves.

Sources and limits

Upstream references and independent checks

Digest dated 2026-08-02 · upstream model claude-sonnet-4-6. Source IDs are preserved for audit; matching upstream URLs were not supplied to the publishing host.

  1. 1
    d55d11f6561a66036f85356c6c6af93d1e64cb19Upstream reference; direct URL unavailable.
  2. 2
    1abdbc8d745b70b951b71bbfacd024eb00c541cbUpstream reference; direct URL unavailable.

This Research brief was generated by Terra from a dated upstream research digest. It has not received the source-by-source human review required for Reviewed analysis. Material limit: This brief is based on supplied upstream digest evidence from single-source clusters; it does not provide underlying source URLs, methodology, or independent confirmation of the reported figures and events.