Quantitative analysts at JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) have issued a sharp warning on Bitcoin (BTC) mining, Investing.com reported on June 18.
Bitcoin is the world’s first decentralized cryptocurrency, which means no centralized body creates or controls it and it runs on a peer-to-peer (P2P) network.
Related: What is Bitcoin mining? Explained
The cryptocurrency is created by a process called Bitcoin mining, which involves using specialized computers to solve complex cryptographic functions to secure the blockchain and mine new coins. Miners, in exchange for their work, receive rewards in the form of newly created BTC.
A key measure of Bitcoin mining difficulty is hash rate. The metric calculates the rate at which all the computers (nodes) on the network create hashes to process transactions and mine new blocks.
In simple words, the hash rate is an indicator of Bitcoin mining difficulty. The higher is the hash rate, the higher is the mining difficulty.
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JPMorgan says Bitcoin hash rate more responsive to price moves
According to JPMorgan quants, Bitcoin’s hash rate and mining difficulty have become more responsive to price movements year-to-date (YTD).
The beta of mining difficulty to Bitcoin prices has grown to 0.62 over the past six months. The hike reflects the idea that a higher share of miners are operating near their breakeven zone, making the aggregate hash rate more sensitive to Bitcoin prices, the analysts said.
To put it simply, mining margins are relatively tight and miners react more quickly to price changes.
As per the report published in Investing.com, Bitcoin miners have been switching rigs on or off in response to even modest price movements.
When Bitcoin’s price falls below its production cost, higher-cost miners switch off their rigs, leading to a decline in the hash rate and difficulty level going down.
JPMorgan quants expect higher hash rate responsiveness to Bitcoin prices to continue as long as Bitcoin trades below its production cost, which is currently estimated at $78,000.
A higher frequency of large adjustments in mining difficulty will also continue, as per the analysts.
As per Decibel, Bitcoin was exchanging hands at $64,525 at the time of writing.
Related: Explained: What is sustainable Bitcoin mining?
This story was originally published by TheStreet on Jun 18, 2026, where it first appeared in the MARKETS section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.