Bitcoin Mining Break-Even: How to Calculate It
A mining break-even analysis asks: at what BTC price does your daily mining revenue exactly cover your daily electricity cost? It is the foundation of any profitability assessment — and it changes every time BTC price, network difficulty, or your electricity rate changes.
We do not publish fixed break-even numbers because they are meaningless outside a specific date and difficulty. Use our profitability calculator to compute break-even for your hardware under current conditions.
Two Types of "Break-Even"
Type 1
Electricity Break-Even Price
The BTC/USD price at which daily revenue = daily electricity cost. This tells you whether your miner is covering its running costs right now. It does not account for hardware purchase price.
Type 2
Hardware Payback Period
The time until daily net income (revenue minus electricity) fully recovers the hardware purchase price and onboarding fee. This is the ROI question. See our payback period guide.
The Electricity Break-Even Formula
Step 1: calculate your daily electricity cost.
Daily Electricity Cost ($) = (Power_W ÷ 1,000) × 24 × $/kWh
Example — Whatsminer M70S (3,500W) at $0.07/kWh: (3,500 ÷ 1,000) × 24 × $0.07 = 3.5 × 24 × $0.07 = $5.88/day
Step 2: calculate your daily BTC mined. This requires your hashrate, network difficulty, and block subsidy. The formula is:
Daily BTC = (Hashrate_TH × 86400 × Block_Subsidy_BTC) ÷ (Difficulty × 2³²)
Block subsidy: 3.125 BTC/block as of the April 2024 halving, unchanged until ~April 2028. Difficulty changes every ~2 weeks — never use a fixed number for planning.
Step 3: break-even BTC price:
Break-Even BTC Price = Daily Electricity Cost ÷ Daily BTC Mined
If BTC trades above this price, the miner covers its electricity costs. Below it, it does not. Do not use a single BTC price for planning — model a range.
Why Break-Even Is Always a Moving Target
The denominator in the break-even calculation — your daily BTC mined — changes every time network difficulty adjusts (roughly every two weeks). When difficulty falls, you mine more BTC per day, and your break-even BTC price falls. When difficulty rises, the reverse happens.
In 2026, network difficulty fell approximately 10.7% across six consecutive downward adjustments. This benefited existing miners by lowering their break-even prices. As of early June 2026, network difficulty was approximately 139 T — but this will change. Sources: CoinWarz, minerstat (as of early June 2026; trackers diverge slightly in methodology).
For a deeper look at how difficulty adjustments affect ROI over time, see our difficulty and ROI guide.
How $0.07/kWh Affects Your Break-Even
Because break-even price = daily electricity cost ÷ daily BTC mined, cutting your electricity cost in half (roughly what $0.07/kWh vs. $0.145/kWh achieves) cuts your break-even BTC price roughly in half — for the same hardware, same difficulty, same pool.
This does not mean mining at lower electricity rates guarantees profit. If BTC falls below even the lower break-even price, the miner is still unprofitable. But a lower electricity rate provides a meaningful margin of safety.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a bitcoin mining break-even price?
The break-even price is the BTC/USD price at which your daily mining revenue exactly covers your daily electricity cost. Above that price, you are covering electricity. Below it, electricity costs more than you are earning. It does not account for hardware cost — that is a separate payback-period calculation.
How do I calculate my bitcoin mining break-even price?
Break-even price = Daily electricity cost ($) ÷ Daily BTC mined. Daily electricity cost = (Power_W ÷ 1,000) × 24 × $/kWh. Daily BTC mined depends on your hashrate relative to the total network hashrate and the block subsidy (3.125 BTC/block as of the April 2024 halving). Because daily BTC mined changes with every difficulty adjustment, break-even is a dynamic scenario rather than a fixed number. Use a profitability calculator to compute it for current conditions.
How does network difficulty affect my break-even price?
When difficulty rises, you mine fewer BTC per day from the same hardware — which raises your break-even price. When difficulty falls, you mine more BTC per day — which lowers your break-even. In 2026, difficulty fell approximately 10.7% across six downward adjustments. This effectively lowered break-even prices for existing miners. As of early June 2026, network difficulty was approximately 139 T.
How does electricity rate affect break-even?
Lower electricity rate directly lowers your daily cost and therefore your break-even price. At $0.07/kWh, a 3,500W miner costs approximately $5.88/day in electricity. At $0.145/kWh (US residential average), the same miner costs approximately $12.18/day. To cover $12.18/day you need to mine significantly more BTC value per day than to cover $5.88/day — which means your break-even BTC price is roughly 2× higher at the residential rate.
Calculate your break-even now
Our calculator uses live difficulty and BTC price to compute break-even for any miner you input. Try multiple hardware scenarios side by side.