Bitcoin rebounded swiftly after the Trump tariff shake-up. While it appears that ASIC mining hardware may be exempt—at least for now—uncertainty continues to cast a shadow over the sector. Yet, despite the policy turmoil and a persistently low hashprice, hashrate is surging, with the 1-day moving average breaking above the 1 zetahash mark for the first time. For our premium members, we take a deeper dive into the five forces shaping the future of hashrate growth: ASIC efficiency, Bitcoin price dynamics, evolving regulation, intensifying competition for power, and ongoing supply chain constraints.
Bitcoin Rebounds After Trump Tariff Shake-Up
U.S. Bitcoin Miners Caught in the Tariff Crossfire
Some Hope over the Weekend
Hashrate Marches On as 1-DMA Crosses the Zetahash Mark
Hut 8’s U3S21EXPH Deployment
Miners Stay Online Despite Record-Low Hashprice
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Five Forces Behind Future Hashrate Growth: ASIC Efficiency, Bitcoin Price, Regulation, Competition for Power & Supply Chain Constraints.
Bitcoin Rebounds After Trump Tariff Shake-Up
Bitcoin experienced a sharp pullback twice last week, dipping to a five-month low just above $74,000 amid rising geopolitical tensions and renewed concerns over U.S. trade policies. However, after Trump eased tariffs on all countries except China midweek, the market responded positively, sending BTC soaring past $83,000. The rally gained further momentum from favorable U.S. CPI data, which helped restore investor confidence. BTC has managed to hold above $85,000, signaling a strong rebound from last week’s lows. As of now, Bitcoin is trading just under $85,200, representing a 12.7% gain over the past week. The price action suggests growing bullish momentum as the market eyes further upside, but BTC is not out of the woods yet as it is still trading under the 200 Simple Moving Average (SMA).
U.S. Bitcoin Miners Caught in the Tariff Crossfire
Last week, the outlook for U.S.-based Bitcoin miners took a sudden hit as new tariffs on Asian-made goods were announced. Countries like China, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia—all critical players in the mining supply chain—faced steep levies that threatened to inflate capital expenditures across the board.
Bitmain, the dominant ASIC manufacturer with over 75% global market share, had previously shifted production from China to Southeast Asia in response to Trump’s 2018 tariffs. Now, with those regions also targeted, the industry braced for another cost surge. U.S. mining operations rely heavily on imports from Asia—not just ASICs, but also modular data centers, cooling systems, power distribution units, network hardware, and more. And since tariffs are based on the country of manufacture, not the point of shipment, there seemed to be no way around the coming price hikes.
Some Hope over the Weekend
The 12th of April, President Trump announced exemption for several categories of electronics, including smartphones, laptops, semiconductors. The White House clarified that products falling under certain HTSUS (Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States) codes would be spared from the looming 145% tariffs, at least for now. On Bitmain’s support page miners are classified under HTSUS code 8471, this category made the exemption list.
However, Compass Logistics & Marine(CLM) provided an important piece of information. ASIC miners are still classified under HTSUS code 8543.70.9860, as ruled by CBP in 2018 (ruling N297495). This classification has not changed, and thus ASIC miners are not included in the updated tariff exemptions. Trump said more details will follow this week. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that exemption of ASIC miners will still be confirmed.
Hashrate Marches On as 1-DMA Crosses the Zetahash Mark
While there was a lot of uncertainty in the mining industry, the network’s hashrate is telling a completely different story—it’s skyrocketing. Hashrate has reached new all-time highs of 929 EH/s on the 7-Daily Moving Average (DMA), seemingly unaffected by macroeconomic turbulence.
Moreover, in the midst of global economic uncertainty, rising trade tariffs, and a consolidating BTC price, the 1-day moving average (1-DMA) hashrate surged past the 1 Zetahash (ZH) mark for the first time ever. That’s 1 sextillion hashes, or a trillion trillion calculations every second. Despite the 1-DMA being less reliable than the 7- or 30-DMA, this is a monumental achievement showcases the immense computational power securing the Bitcoin blockchain.
Hut 8’s U3S21EXPH Deployment
Last year Hut 8 announced they partnered with Bitmain to launch and commercialize the U3S21EXPH, the first Antminer to feature direct liquid-to-chip (DLC) cooling in a rack-ready “U” form factor. This next-gen machine can reach up to 860 TH/s at 13 J/TH. The units will be deployed in Q2 2025 through a ~15 EH/s hosting agreement using. The agreement includes a purchase option allowing Hut 8 to transition from hosting to self-mining, potentially boosting its self-mining hashrate from 5.6 EH/s to ~20.6 EH/s. The U3S21EXPH bridges the gap between Bitcoin mining and AI data centers, leveraging shared components and design efficiencies. Hut 8’s custom-built, high-density infrastructure and recently published footage of a part of the facility.
Miners Stay Online Despite Record-Low Hashprice
After a difficulty adjustment of +6.81% on April 5th, hashprice briefly approached $40/PH/day—a level not seen since the dips in August and September 2024. It has since recovered slightly and is now hovering around $44/PH/day.
The halving occurred about a year ago, yet hashprice remains far from its pre-halving level of around $100/PH/day. Despite this, network hashrate continues to climb. This behavior suggests one of two things: either miners are rushing to accumulate BTC before margins tighten further, or they’re showing strong confidence in Bitcoin’s long-term upside—taking advantage of low ASIC prices to double down.
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What’s Fueling the Next Phase of Hashrate Growth? Premium members get an in-depth look at five key factors that will shape Bitcoin’s hashrate trajectory in the years ahead.
