On-chain · Mining
Hash Ribbon, explained
Bitcoin's mining power as two moving averages, and the stretches where the short one sits under the long one. How hashrate is worked out, what a contraction is, what the history shows around halvings and past lows, and what it can and cannot tell you.
- Measures
- Hashrate
- Ribbon
- 30D · 60D
- History from
- 2010
- Updated
- Daily
the computing power securing Bitcoin, in EH/s
two simple moving averages of daily hashrate
daily, Bitcoin only
each day adds the previous day's reading
What is the Hash Ribbon?
Miners secure Bitcoin by spending computing power, and the total they spend is called the hashrate. When hashrate rises, more machines are running. When it falls, some have switched off.
The Hash Ribbon draws hashrate as two moving averages and marks the stretches where the short one has dropped below the long one. It is a view of whether mining power has been growing or shrinking.
How the ribbon is worked out
Nobody measures hashrate directly. Each day we work it out from the difficulty of every block and the number of blocks found, added up block by block, and show it in exahashes per second. We then draw two simple averages of that daily figure: the last 30 days, which is the fast leg, and the last 60 days, which is the slow leg.
A contraction is shaded wherever the 30-day average is below the 60-day average. The data is computed daily by Blockchain Decoded from the public Bitcoin blockchain, with Bitcoin’s price drawn alongside, and the history starts in 2010.
What a contraction means
It means hashrate has been lower recently than over the longer window, so mining power has been shrinking. Miners run machines only while it pays, so a contraction can follow a fall in price, or a cut in the reward per block. It is a description of mining. It is not a forecast of price.
What the history shows
Since 2011 the 30-day average has been below the 60-day average on about one day in six. There have been 38 separate contractions, and 21 lasted two weeks or more. The longest ran 117 days, from September to December 2011.
After each of the four halvings, in 2012, 2016, 2020 and 2024, a contraction began within 25 days. Contractions also appeared around the 2018 to 2019 and 2022 lows and in the March 2020 crash, and they appeared mid-cycle too, in mid-2021 for example. So the same shading has shown up in very different conditions.
What the chart does not tell you
A mining chart can feel like a verdict on the market, which is when it is easiest to over-read. Five things to keep in view.
A contraction describes mining, not price
It means the network's computing power has been falling for a while. Miners switch machines off when running them stops paying, which can follow a fall in price or a cut in the block reward. The chart shows that mining is contracting. It does not show where price goes next.
Contractions are common
Since 2011 the 30-day average has sat under the 60-day average on about one day in six. There have been 38 separate contractions, and 21 of them lasted two weeks or more. Seeing one is not unusual, and on its own it says little.
A halving usually brings one
Each halving cuts the reward miners earn per block in half overnight. After every one of the four halvings so far, a contraction began within 25 days. So some contractions reflect the reward cut and not stress in the market.
Hashrate is estimated, so single days are noisy
Nobody measures hashrate directly. It is worked out from each block's difficulty and how many blocks were found that day, so a lucky or unlucky day moves it. The two averages smooth that out, and the daily line can be switched on to see the noise.
Averages confirm a change after it has started
A 30-day average lags the daily figure by weeks, and a 60-day average lags more. When the short one crosses under the long one, hashrate has already been falling for some time. The crossing is a record of that, not an early warning.
The ribbon shows whether mining power is shrinking. It cannot show what price does next.
Where it fits
This is an on-chain mining chart with no risk score of its own. It is one of the four conditions behind the On-Chain Bottom Zone Signal, which counts how many are present at once. It is not an input to either Heatmeter. It is most useful next to the Puell Multiple and the other miner charts, to see how the economics and the machines line up.
Common questions
What is hashrate?
The total computing power miners are putting into securing the Bitcoin network, counted in hashes per second. The chart uses exahashes per second, or EH/s. One EH/s is a billion billion hashes every second.
What is the Hash Ribbon?
Two simple moving averages of daily hashrate drawn together: a 30-day average, which reacts faster, and a 60-day average, which reacts more slowly. Together they form a ribbon.
What counts as a contraction?
Any day on which the 30-day average sits below the 60-day average. The chart shades those stretches. It means hashrate has been lower recently than it was over the longer window.
How is daily hashrate worked out?
From the difficulty of each block and the number of blocks found that day, added up block by block. It is computed daily by Blockchain Decoded from the public Bitcoin blockchain, so single days can be noisy.
Why do halvings matter here?
A halving cuts the reward per block in half, so the same machines earn half as much in coins. Some machines become unprofitable and switch off. After each of the four halvings so far, a contraction began within 25 days.
How often does it update?
Once a day. Each day the series adds the previous day's reading, and the days already on the chart do not change.
Does this chart have a risk score?
No. It draws the two averages, the shaded contractions and Bitcoin's price alongside. It is one of the four conditions behind the On-Chain Bottom Zone Signal, which counts how many are present.
Is this a buy or sell signal?
No. It describes whether mining power has been rising or falling. Contractions have appeared around past lows, but also mid-cycle, so they are historical observations and not a guide to what happens next.
Related guides
Others in on-chain — What the blockchain itself says about holders, miners, and what people paid for their coins.
- 2-Year Cost BasisThe average price paid by coins that moved in the last two years, against Bitcoin’s price, and the stretches where price sits under it.
- LTH AccumulatingHow many bitcoin have sat unspent for more than 155 days, and the stretches where that group has been growing over the last 30 days.
- LTH Realized LossThe daily dollar value of losses taken when long-held coins are spent below the price they last moved at, shown as a 30-day average.
- LTH Supply in LossHow many long-held bitcoin sit at a loss, against the cohort's average cost and Bitcoin's price.
- On-Chain Bottom Zone SignalA count, from zero to four, of how many of four on-chain conditions hold at once, shown weekly.
Every indicator we track — the full glossary.
Open the chart
Everything above is the method. On the chart you can see the 30-day and 60-day averages, the shaded contractions, the daily hashrate if you switch it on, and Bitcoin’s price alongside.