On-chain data indicates ether’s price drop and lower on-chain activity are the main culprits behind lower network hashrate, in addition to Chinese miners turning off machines.

  • Network hashrate peaked May 21 at 610 TH/s, according to Coin Metrics. Total hashrate now resides just under 500 TH/s.
  • The price of ether peaked one week earlier on May 14, at $4,086, but on-chain activity (and therefore miner revenue) was only beginning as decentralized exchange users began taking profits or stopping losses.
  • Over the period (April 24-May 24), the mean fee in dollar terms rose to $22.40 per transaction, while the median fee sat at $11.32.
  • Hashrate began slowly leaving the network as fees and coinbase returns (miner revenue) lowered through the end of May, indicating miner price sensitivity.

Ethereum network hashrate exodus accelerated with both the Chinese mining ban and 50% drop in the price of ether. Three of the top Ethereum mining pools lost significant hashrate, with the majority leaving after Sichuan’s ban.

  • SparkPool – typically the largest pool with roughly  25% of total hashrate – lost an estimated 19% of hashrate by June 21 and a further 20% by June 30, according to Pool Watch.
  • F2Pool lost 24.5% hashrate by June 30, but relatively little by June 21. This indicates a majority of F2Pool’s Ethereum mining operations were already in Sichuan when that province constricted mining operations.
  • SpiderPool lost 41% of its hashrate overall, with 14% departing before June 21.