US Mining Industry

Cryptocurrency mining in the United States has grown into a large-scale industrial sector. When Bitcoin first emerged, America became one of the key regions for mining: it combined a strong crypto community with a diverse energy mix — hydroelectric, coal, nuclear, and renewables such as solar and wind — and several states, Texas above all, offered low electricity costs.

In the early stages, the market was driven by enthusiasts and small startups. Until 2021, China — not the US — held the top spot worldwide by hash rate. Over time, mining in the USA turned into a stable, industrial business. This shift was driven largely by Beijing’s 2021 crackdown on cryptocurrency activity, after which reports described the Chinese crypto business moving underground and Chinese miners relocating abroad, including to the US.

Key Takeaways

• The US remains a major Bitcoin mining hub, with an estimated 36.7% of global hashrate as of June 2026
• Hashrate and electricity-use figures are modeled estimates and depend on methodology
• US mining rules vary across federal agencies and individual states
• Major miners are increasingly expanding into AI, HPC, and data-center services

Company Overview

The largest publicly traded US mining companies include the following. Note that corporate names, ownership, and scale in this sector change frequently — several of the companies below have been renamed, restructured, or have pivoted part of their capacity toward AI and high-performance computing hosting.

Beyond the public companies, the US market includes many smaller miners and hosting providers, a large share of which lease capacity or host equipment for third-party clients.

The US Share of Global Hashrate

As of June 2026, Hashrate Index estimated that the United States accounted for approximately 36.7% of global Bitcoin hashrate, equivalent to about 345 EH/s. The estimate was published in its Q3 2026 Global Hashrate Heatmap on July 16, 2026.

The figure is not based on a direct census of mining facilities. Hashrate Index estimates geographic distribution using a weighted combination of mining-pool data, ASIC trading flows, firmware adoption trends, proprietary datasets, and analyst estimates. It should therefore be presented as an approximate industry estimate rather than a precise measurement.

For comparison, the last CCAF Bitcoin Mining Map based on mining-pool geolocation data placed the US share at 37.84% in January 2022. CCAF’s later Cambridge Digital Mining Industry Report reported that 75.4% of the activity captured by its survey was located in the United States as of June 30, 2024. However, that study covered 49 mining firms representing 268 EH/s, or approximately 48% of the network hashrate at the time, and CCAF warned that particularly strong participation by US companies likely overstated the country’s share. The 75.4% figure should therefore not be described as the US share of total global hashrate.

The previous estimate that China accounted for 21.1% should be removed from any current comparison because it refers to January 2022. Hashrate Index estimated China’s share at approximately 12.2% in June 2026, but the covert nature of mining operations and the use of location-obscuring infrastructure make country-level estimates for China particularly uncertain.

Regulation

US digital-asset regulation remains divided between federal and state authorities. The GENIUS Act, enacted in July 2025, established a federal framework for payment stablecoins. Broader market-structure legislation is not yet law: the CLARITY Act passed the House and was reported by the Senate Banking Committee in June 2026 but still requires further congressional approval.

In March 2026, the SEC and CFTC issued a joint interpretation addressing non-security crypto assets, digital commodities, investment contracts, and protocol mining. The Ripple appeals were dismissed in August 2025, leaving the district court’s final judgment in effect. State rules remain uneven: Texas requires mining facilities above 75 MW to register with the PUCT, while New York applies environmental permitting and the BitLicense regime, although mining alone does not require a BitLicense.

Taxes

In the US, taxation is administered by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Taxpayers report the previous tax year’s activity, with the standard filing deadline in mid-April.

An important distinction the original version of this article blurred: mined cryptocurrency is generally treated as ordinary income at the moment it is received, valued at its fair market value on that date. A separate capital-gains event occurs later, when those coins are sold or exchanged — and only that second event depends on how long the coins were held. Long-term rates (applied after a holding period of more than one year) are lower than short-term rates, which follow ordinary income brackets.

Rate thresholds are indexed annually and change every tax year, so any specific dollar figure goes stale quickly — check the current-year brackets on the IRS website. Rules also differ for miners operating as a business versus individuals, and state taxes apply on top of federal.

Electricity Consumption

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) has estimated that Bitcoin mining accounts for somewhere between 0.6% and 2.3% of total US electricity consumption. That range is wide for a reason, and the methodology behind it matters:

1. The estimate was built by assuming a US share of global mining of roughly 38%, taken from CCAF data that was itself last published for January 2022
2. The underlying global consumption model is a top-down approach: it assembles a representative basket of mining hardware and assumes miners behave as rational economic actors, rather than measuring actual machines in operation
3. The resulting range corresponded to roughly 25 to 91 TWh against total US demand of about 3,900 TWh in 2023

In other words, the figure is a modeled estimate with substantial uncertainty, not a measurement — which is exactly why it is published as a range rather than a single number.

What can be said without a source-dated figure: energy is the dominant operating cost in mining, the amount of electricity required per bitcoin roughly doubles at each halving (because the same work yields half the reward), and profitability therefore depends primarily on a miner’s power contract rather than on national averages.

FAQ

How is mining taxed in the USA?

Mined cryptocurrency is generally treated as ordinary income at the time it is received, based on its fair market value that day. If the coins are later sold or exchanged, a separate capital-gains calculation applies to the difference between that value and the sale price, with the rate depending on the holding period. Specific brackets change annually — consult current IRS guidance, and note that this is general information, not tax advice.

How can miners reduce their US tax burden?

Expenses related to mining — equipment, electricity, internet — may be deductible, particularly when mining is conducted as a business rather than a hobby, and thorough documentation of those costs is essential. Holding mined coins for more than a year before selling can also qualify the subsequent gain for long-term rates. Rules differ by circumstance, so consult a qualified tax professional.

Why is the USA a major center of cryptocurrency mining?

Several structural factors: a diverse and, in some states, inexpensive energy mix; deep capital markets that let mining companies finance large buildouts and list publicly; established exchanges and investment vehicles; and a research and technology base around the sector. The relocation of hashrate after China’s 2021 crackdown accelerated this concentration. For the current US share of global hashrate, see the dated estimates discussed above rather than a single headline percentage.

Conclusion

The US is one of the world’s principal Bitcoin mining jurisdictions, built on cheap and diverse energy, deep capital markets, and an industrial-scale operator base. At the same time, the legal framework for digital assets is still developing, published estimates of the sector’s size and energy use carry significant methodological uncertainty, and the corporate landscape reshapes itself quickly — so the specific figures in any overview should be checked against current sources before they are relied upon.