Is Bitcoin Mining Profitable in 2026? An Honest Breakdown
Bitcoin mining can still be profitable in 2026, but for most people paying household electricity rates, it is not. Profitability comes down to three numbers: what you pay for electricity, how efficient your machine is, and the relationship between Bitcoin's price and the network's total hashrate. Change any one of them and the answer flips.
How miners earn money
Bitcoin produces about 144 blocks a day. Each block pays a subsidy of 3.125 BTC (since the April 2024 halving) plus transaction fees. Miners compete for these rewards in proportion to their hashrate. If your machines provide one millionth of the network's hashrate, you can expect roughly one millionth of the daily rewards, usually paid through a mining pool.
Run your own numbers with the free calculator: Bitcoin Mining Calculator
Open calculator →The three numbers that decide profitability
- Electricity price — by far the largest ongoing cost.
- Machine efficiency — measured in joules per terahash (J/TH). Lower is better.
- Revenue per unit of hashrate — often called hashprice. It rises with Bitcoin's price and transaction fees and falls as the network hashrate grows.
Example 1: a modern ASIC
Assume a 234 TH/s machine drawing 3,510 W (about 15 J/TH), a network hashrate of 1,000 EH/s, Bitcoin at $100,000, average fees of 0.03 BTC per block and a 2% pool fee.
- BTC per day: about 0.000104 BTC
- Revenue: about $10.42 per day
- Electricity use: 3.51 kW × 24 h = 84.2 kWh per day
| Electricity price | Daily power cost | Daily profit |
|---|---|---|
| $0.05/kWh | $4.21 | +$6.21 |
| $0.07/kWh | $5.90 | +$4.52 |
| $0.10/kWh | $8.42 | +$2.00 |
| $0.12/kWh | $10.11 | +$0.31 |
| $0.15/kWh | $12.64 | −$2.22 |
Break-even electricity price: about $0.124/kWh. Many US households pay more than that.
Example 2: an older ASIC
A 110 TH/s machine drawing 3,250 W (about 30 J/TH) under the same conditions earns about $4.90 per day. Its power use of 78 kWh per day costs $5.46 at $0.07/kWh, so it loses money even with cheap electricity. Its break-even electricity price is only about $0.063/kWh.
This is why efficiency matters so much: the older machine produces less than half the revenue while using almost as much power.
Costs people forget
- Hardware depreciation. Each new ASIC generation makes older ones less competitive. A machine's resale value can fall quickly.
- Hosting or infrastructure. Hosting facilities charge an all-in rate per kWh; home miners need suitable wiring, cooling and noise control. An ASIC is as loud as a vacuum cleaner running all day.
- Downtime and repairs.
- Rising difficulty. As more machines join, your share shrinks. Revenue per terahash has historically trended down between bull markets.
- The next halving, expected around 2028, will cut the block subsidy to 1.5625 BTC.
Who mines profitably
Industrial miners with power contracts often below $0.05/kWh, efficient fleets and the ability to curtail during price spikes. Some smaller miners profit by using surplus or stranded power, or by using the heat from their machines productively. Home miners on standard tariffs rarely do.
Taxes
In the US and Canada, mining rewards are generally income when received. In the UK they may be miscellaneous income or trading income depending on scale. Later sales are subject to capital gains tax.
Run your own numbers
The Bitcoin mining calculator loads the live network hashrate and Bitcoin price, includes popular ASIC presets, and shows daily profit, break-even electricity price, break-even BTC price and hardware payback time.
CryptoMathly provides educational estimates only and is not financial, investment or tax advice. Crypto assets are volatile and you can lose money. Always verify figures with a qualified professional.