Bitcoin Mining Beta Climbs to 0.62 as 20% of Miners Near Breakeven Amid Price Pressure

According to JPMorgan, the beta of Bitcoin mining difficulty relative to price has climbed to 0.62 over the past six months, reflecting heightened network sensitivity as more miners operate dangerously close to their breakeven point. Bitcoin has traded below the bank's estimated production cost of $78,000 for five consecutive months in 2026, with the price around $64,700 at publication.

Approximately 20% of miners are estimated to be unprofitable according to CoinShares data cited by JPMorgan. Publicly traded mining companies liquidated more than 32,000 BTC in Q1 2026, exceeding their combined sales for all of 2025. Mining difficulty fell 10% in the second week of June 2026, the second major decline of that magnitude this year.