Winter Storm Slows U.S. Bitcoin Mining, Shows Grid Flexibility

Public network data from Mining Pool Stats reveals a pronounced slowdown in Bitcoin mining activity concentrated among pools with significant U.S. operations. The most visible impact was on Foundry USA, one of the world’s largest mining pools. Its hashrate—a measure of the total computational power securing the network—fell sharply from approximately 260 exahashes per second (EH/s) on January 24 to roughly 124 EH/s the following day, a drop of over 50%. It later recovered only partially to around 134 EH/s by Monday, a pattern consistent with large-scale, sustained power curtailments.

Luxor, another major pool with substantial U.S. exposure, showed a proportional decline, falling from about 40 EH/s to roughly 16 EH/s. Other globally distributed pools also recorded declines, though they were less severe. Antpool, which operates in the U.S. through a joint venture with Applied Digital, saw its hashrate decrease from around 165 EH/s to approximately 137 EH/s. The widespread reductions were a direct response to the winter storm, which brought prolonged subfreezing temperatures, snow, and ice, straining electricity systems and forcing utilities to curtail large industrial loads to maintain grid stability.

The slowdown underscores a fundamental shift in how the Bitcoin mining industry interacts with power infrastructure. Rather than representing a vulnerability, these temporary fluctuations are increasingly viewed as a feature. Fakhul Miah, managing director at infrastructure developer GoMining Institutional, told Decrypt that events like this are absorbed by Bitcoin’s global distribution and its built-in difficulty adjustment mechanism. “Weather events, power pricing, maintenance cycles, and localized grid conditions regularly cause temporary fluctuations,” Miah said, adding that these adjustments show mechanisms “are becoming a normal part of mining operations, as Bitcoin mining increasingly functions as a flexible load that can adjust to the needs of modern power grids.”

This perspective is echoed by Callan Sarre, co-founder and chief product officer at Bitcoin infrastructure firm Threshold Labs. Sarre explained that the Bitcoin network appears to be “doing what it’s supposed to do under stress.” He noted, “Concentrated U.S. hashrate came offline, block intervals widened temporarily, and then the system began reverting toward its baseline.” These slowdowns are, in his view, “a side‑effect of miners acting as a flexible, dispatchable load for the grid.” The event validated the network’s resilience, as the temporary loss of a concentrated segment of hashrate did not compromise the underlying consensus layer.

The storm-related curtailments highlight a business model that is becoming standard, particularly in deregulated energy markets like Texas. Here, mining operations have integrated demand-response practices into their core economics. During periods of extreme weather when residential electricity demand spikes and grid stability is threatened, miners voluntarily ramp down their power-intensive operations. In return, they can earn demand-response revenue from grid operators or benefit from avoided high energy costs.

As Callan Sarre of Threshold Labs pointed out, curtailment during extreme weather appears to have become a “part of the business model.” Miners “ramp down when residential demand spikes, earn demand‑response revenue, and then ramp back up once the grid stabilizes, all while Bitcoin’s consensus layer remains intact.” This symbiotic relationship allows miners to act as a shock absorber for the grid, providing crucial flexibility during peak demand while ensuring their own operations remain economically viable. The recent winter storm served as a large-scale, real-world test of this model, demonstrating that significant portions of U.S. Bitcoin mining capacity can be quickly taken offline to support broader grid reliability without causing lasting harm to the cryptocurrency network itself.