IREN mining revenue fell from $232.9M in Q1 to $167.4M in Q2 2026. That's a 28% collapse in a single quarter.
This isn't a Bitcoin price problem. BTC is up year-over-year. This is a margin compression problem.
When difficulty rises faster than price, the mining business model breaks at the weakest cost structures first. IREN is pivoting resources to GPU compute because the hashrate lottery no longer pays their electricity bill at grid rates.
The network doesn't care about quarterly earnings. It only cares about the cost per joule. Miners with sub-5¢ power continue operating profitably while leveraged operations at 12¢+ are forced to exit or pivot.
This is the Slab in action. The hashrate floor hardens around the thermodynamically efficient, not the financially optimistic.
This isn't a Bitcoin price problem. BTC is up year-over-year. This is a margin compression problem.
When difficulty rises faster than price, the mining business model breaks at the weakest cost structures first. IREN is pivoting resources to GPU compute because the hashrate lottery no longer pays their electricity bill at grid rates.
The network doesn't care about quarterly earnings. It only cares about the cost per joule. Miners with sub-5¢ power continue operating profitably while leveraged operations at 12¢+ are forced to exit or pivot.
This is the Slab in action. The hashrate floor hardens around the thermodynamically efficient, not the financially optimistic.
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