Bitcoin is in what Twenty One Capital CEO Raphael Zagury called its first hashrate bear market, a prolonged stretch in which network computing power has stayed below its late-2025 record near 1.3 zettahashes per second. Presentation materials he used put the drawdown at roughly 22% to 24% from that peak. Zagury delivered the argument at Bitcoin Asia in Hong Kong on Aug. 28, and Twenty One Capital later filed the prepared transcript with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He contrasted the gradual decline with the sharp 2021 drop after China’s mining ban, which reversed as machines relocated; this cycle, he said, reflects operators reallocating scarce power, data-center capacity and capital toward artificial intelligence rather than automatically expanding Bitcoin fleets. Public miners including TeraWulf, IREN, Core Scientific, HIVE and Cipher are furthest along in that shift, while firms such as MARA, CleanSpark, Riot and Bitdeer still run large mining operations. Lower hashrate can raise remaining miners’ network share after difficulty adjusts downward about every two weeks, though revenue still depends on Bitcoin’s price, fees, power costs and competition. Zagury argued low-cost operators can still profit, said mining outperforms best when Bitcoin’s price rises faster than hashrate, and advised small allocators to buy Bitcoin before mining exposure.