Public bitcoin mining firms recorded $1.1 billion in asset write-downs and impairments during the first half of 2026. This trend is driven by business restructuring as companies pivot toward artificial intelligence and high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure.
The combined write-downs for IREN and Core Scientific accounted for nearly 89% of the total figure. Additionally, miners lost approximately 75 EH/s in actual hashrate, with the equipment value associated with these decommissioned capacities estimated at $1.5 billion.
Cipher Mining serves as a case study, having written off $96.1 million in mining equipment value at its Black Pearl site, which was repurposed for HPC. Meanwhile, IREN reported approximately $695 million in write-downs during the first half of 2026.
While revenue from HPC and AI services grew by 52% quarter-over-quarter, companies face significant capital requirements. For instance, TeraWulf reported $53 million in HPC revenue against $131 million in cash interest expenses during the first half of the year.
Financial analysts note that these write-downs reflect a broader reassessment of mining investments, exacerbated by tightening credit conditions from banks. Furthermore, 14 public mining and AI infrastructure firms raised $35.09 billion in debt financing in the first half of 2026.
