Bitcoin Miners Are Pivoting to AI as Fees Hit 2019 Lows

Bitcoin miner fee revenue has dropped to its lowest level since 2019. Daily miner revenue also sits at levels last seen during past bear markets.

On-chain data from Glassnode and Capriole Investments suggests the squeeze is structural rather than cyclical. Many public miners now sell their bitcoin reserves to fund a shift into AI computing.

Miner Revenue Falls to Bear-Market Levels

Glassnode data shows total miner revenue below $25 million per day on a seven-day moving average. The network last paid miners this little in late summer 2024, through the 2023 bear-market floor, and during the summer 2021 crash (red circles).

Each of those episodes came at far lower prices (blue boxes). Bitcoin (BTC) traded near $30,000 in mid-2021 and below $28,000 through most of 2023. Today, miners earn the same dollar amount with BTC near $63,000.

Three forces explain the gap. The April 2024 halving cut the block subsidy to 3.125 BTC. The price trades roughly 50% below its October 2025 all-time high. Meanwhile, transaction fees have almost disappeared.

The consequence is already visible on corporate balance sheets. Record sales saw public miners liquidate 32,000 BTC in the first quarter of 2026, more than in all of 2025.

Fees at 2019 Lows Push Miners Toward AI

Capriole Investments tracks annual fees, the trailing 12-month fee income miners earn on top of the block subsidy. The metric just fell to roughly $114 million, its weakest reading since 2019.

Back then, Bitcoin traded near $3,400. The same fee income now supports a network priced over 18 times higher. Since the halving, fees have often contributed less than 1% of total block rewards.

Charles Edwards, founder of Capriole, called the chart one of the more concerning long-term Bitcoin metrics.

“Bitcoin’s transaction throughput fee revenue is in free fall, block rewards keep halving and AI compute demand is through the roof. It’s no wonder every single public Bitcoin miner is pivoting away from Bitcoin and into AI.”

The pivot is well underway. Mining companies have announced more than $70 billion in AI and high-performance computing contracts. Most leading firms already earn revenue from AI infrastructure.

Even MARA, the largest bitcoin holder among public miners, changed its treasury policy this year. The company may now sell coins from its entire balance-sheet reserve for the first time.

Bottom Signal or Broken Signal?

A third chart complicates the bearish story. Bitcoin’s hashrate holds near 850 to 900 exahashes per second, down from a late 2025 peak above 1.1 zettahashes.

That pullback still leaves network security far above its level at the April 2024 halving. Computing power protecting Bitcoin remains higher than at any point before 2025.

The protocol also defends itself. Recent difficulty drops have already improved margins for the operators who stayed, as the network recalibrates every two weeks.

History adds a final twist. Fee and revenue lows have previously clustered near bear-market bottoms, when interest in Bitcoin was weakest. Edwards highlighted the same historical pattern in his commentary.

If the old signal holds, the current collapse could mark another cycle low. If miners now exit upward into AI rather than capitulate, that floor may never get tested the same way again.