SBI Crypto To Shut Mining Pool July 31 Cutting 20.9 EH/s As AI Data Centers Eat Hash Margin

A legacy mining brand is walking away and hash market felt the shift fast. SBI Crypto, the mining arm of Japan giant SBI Holdings, said it will end its Bitcoin mining pool on July 31, removing roughly 20.9 EH/s, about 2% of global hash, from the board. The group cited tight margins after halving, plus rising power cost and a reported $21 million hack in Sept 2025 that hit timeline. The move lands just as AI data center firms like Hyperscale Data pivot to BTC treasury plus AI rack mix.

Why this matters now goes well beyond one pool. Post halving, hash price has sat near $42 per PH per day, down 38% from pre halving $68, while power in Texas and Paraguay rose 12% year over year. SBI pool fee was 2.5% FPPS, but with block reward now 3.125 BTC, fee revenue fell 44%. Miners with older S19 rigs at 28 J per TH now lose $0.18 per kWh, so only S21 and hydro fleets stay green. AI firms pay $0.12 to $0.18 per kWh for rack space, so many hosts now lease to AI, not hash.

On chain, hash rate hovered near 620 EH/s this week and dipped 8 EH/s after SBI news, diff set to fall 1.8% on next retarget. Miner outflows to exchanges fell to 320 BTC daily from 520 BTC last week, so less forced sale even as margin shrinks. Hash ribbons show mild cap, not full surrender yet.

For traders, pool exit cuts sell pressure but lifts central risk. Foundry and AntPool now hold 52% of blocks combined, so two pools near half of hash. That raises tail risk of empty block games during fee spikes.

When a bank owned pool with 20.9 EH/s quits for AI rack profit, it shows where power money goes. Short S19 heavy miners, long low cost hydro and AI hybrid names was the trade this week, and BTC held $63k to $65k zone despite hash wobble.
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