Bitcoin hashrate hits seven-month high as AI shift fails to ease mining competition

Bitcoin’s rising hashrate represents an “indirect bullish signal” from institutional investors that are backing several public Bitcoin miners, according to analytics platform CryptoQuant’s founder and CEO, Ki Young Ju. “Higher hashrate means stronger security and better fundamentals as a store of value,” wrote Ju in a Thursday X post, adding that he sees this as a bullish signal since public miners are largely backed by traditional finance (TradFi) institutions. Hashrate is a measure of the computational power of a blockchain network, indicating how many hash calculations are performed per second. Bitcoin’s (BTC) hashrate has recovered by about 45% from the summer’s lows, from about 726 exahashes per second (EH/s) in July to roughly 1,050 EH/s on Wednesday, according to CryptoQuant data. The recovery is seen by Ju as an institutional endorsement of Bitcoin’s security and long-term value as well as generally seen as a sign of confidence from BTC miners. Still, global hashrate remained below its peak of 1,305 EH/s clocked in October 2025, when Bitcoin’s price was trading above $111,000. It was last trading at roughly $81,843 as Thursday’s US equities markets opened.

Digital Freedom Fund, the Super political action committee (PAC) launched by Gemini co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss in 2025, announced additional expenditures for US Senate races in the 2026 midterm elections, attempting to influence voters in Texas, Iowa and Ohio. In a Tuesday filing with the US Federal Election Commission (FEC), the Digital Freedom Fund reported its first spending on ads to support Republican candidate Ken Paxton for one of Texas’ Senate seats. According to the PAC, it had spent more than $81,000 on direct mail media to support Paxton and oppose Democratic candidate James Talarico, with early voting having already begun in the state. The Winklevoss-backed Super PAC, which reported raising about $34 million as of Sept. 30, did not limit its spending to Texas, reporting involvement in other key midterm election races using ads. Digital Freedom Fund reported additional expenditures in Ohio’s Senate race between Republican Jon Husted and Democrat Sherrod Brown, bringing the PAC’s total support for Husted to about $7 million.

“I am slightly anxious about purchasing something so big.”

Moderna and Merck are expected to share the Phase 3 data for their experimental cancer vaccine this weekend at a medical conference.

Skip to main contentCrypto NieuwsOct 22, 2026, 2:30 p.m. EDT2 min reada16z's Chris Dixon. (CoinDesk)SummaryProminent venture firm Andreessen Horowitz is renaming its crypto-focused arm to a16z Frontier, expanding its investment focus to artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies. The firm will continue investing in blockchain tech and advocating for crypto regulation while exploring autonomous machines and networks connecting people and AI agents, partner Chris Dixon said. The shift follows similar moves by crypto-focused venture firms, including Paradigm, Framework Ventures and Haun Ventures, to broaden their investments beyond digital assets. Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), one of crypto's most influential venture capital backers, is dropping "crypto" from the name of its investment arm and expanding into artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies, becoming the latest major crypto investor to broaden its focus. The Silicon Valley firm is renaming its a16z Crypto fund to a16z Frontier, targeting startups developing technologies and markets that may take years to mature, general partner Chris Dixon said in a Thursday blog post.