Bitcoin block time slows as sweeping US winter storm strains power grid, prompting miner curtailments

A sweeping U.S. winter storm, named Fernan, has forced a sharp reduction in Bitcoin mining activity as operators curtail power usage to relieve pressure on strained electricity grids. Foundry USA, the largest pool, saw its hashrate drop by about 60%. This has resulted in an estimated 200 EH/s going offline network-wide, pushing average block times above the 10-minute target to around 12.4 minutes, which will trigger a difficulty adjustment. This event highlights the growing role of Bitcoin miners in demand-response programs, acting as flexible loads that can rapidly power down to stabilize the grid during extreme weather, a pattern seen in previous weather-related disruptions in Texas. While the slowdown is expected to be temporary, the increasing diversification of miners into less interruptible workloads like AI could alter future grid interactions.

(Source：The Block)