Bitcoin’s hashrate — the metric measuring total computational power securing the network — staged a sharp V-shaped recovery in February after a dramatic January drop. An extreme Arctic cold wave in the United States had forced roughly 1.3 million mining machines offline, slashing hashrate by nearly 30% as power grids came under pressure.

By February, however, the network rebounded from below 850 EH/s to over 1 ZH/s, nearly erasing the prior decline. Developers noted that mining difficulty just recorded its largest absolute increase ever, signaling renewed strength and miner confidence. Historically, similar V-shaped hashrate recoveries have preceded strong price rallies — raising hopes that Bitcoin could break its five-month losing streak.