Foundry USA, the world’s largest Bitcoin mining pool, has slashed its hashrate by approximately 60% since January 23, taking nearly 200 exahashes per second (EH/s) offline as severe weather forces emergency power curtailments across the United States. The massive drop has visibly slowed the Bitcoin network, pushing average block production times to over 12 minutes, 20% slower than the protocol’s 10-minute target.
The Numbers: 200 EH/s Vanishes
Data from mining analyst TheMinerMag indicates that Foundry’s output collapsed from a peak of ~340 EH/s to roughly 198 EH/s over the weekend. This single-pool contraction represents a staggering loss of computing power, equivalent to the entire network hashrate of mid-2022.
Foundry is not alone. Luxor, another US-centric pool, saw its hashrate slide from 45 EH/s to 26 EH/s as operators complied with grid stabilization mandates. In total, the network-wide hashrate has retraced significantly from its recent highs, with Mempool.space data showing a sharp divergence in expected block delivery.
The curtailment highlights the double-edged sword of US geographic concentration: while access to cheap power is abundant, the network is now uniquely sensitive to North American weather patterns.
Grid Stabilization in Action
The outage is not a technical failure but a feature of the modern mining contract. As Winter Storm Fern brought subfreezing temperatures and ice to the Southeast and Midwest, demand for heating spiked, straining regional power grids. Miners participating in demand-response programs voluntarily shut down rigs to free up capacity for residential and critical infrastructure.
While this proves the “controllable load” thesis, that miners can act as a grid battery, the immediate effect is a sluggish chain. With blocks arriving every 12+ minutes, on-chain transaction throughput has temporarily dipped.
Market Reaction & Outlook
Despite the fundamental shock, price action remains muted. Bitcoin (BTC) is trading around $86,200 (-3.3% in 24h), largely ignoring the temporary security drop. The network’s self-correcting mechanism is already queuing a response: current estimates project a significant downward difficulty adjustment of ~5-15% at the next epoch to bring block times back in line.
