84% of Bitcoin's Hashrate Is Now Securing DeFi — But Miners Aren't Making More Money. Here's Why That Matters
(134 days ago) · 1 source · Summarized by CryptoBipto
In Q1 2026, 84% of Bitcoin's total hashrate was used to secure Bitcoin-based DeFi through merge-mining with Rootstock (RSK). Despite this massive security commitment, miners saw minimal additional fee revenue from the arrangement, raising questions about the sustainability of the model.
WHY IT MATTERS
Think of Bitcoin miners like security guards protecting a building. Right now, 84% of these guards have agreed to also watch over a second building (Rootstock's DeFi platform) at the same time — for free, essentially. 'Merge-mining' lets them do this without extra effort, like a security camera that covers two rooms at once. The problem is that the second building doesn't have many tenants yet, so the guards aren't earning extra tips. For everyday crypto users, this matters because Bitcoin's long-term security depends on miners earning enough money to keep operating. DeFi on Bitcoin is one potential way to boost those earnings, but it's not paying off yet.
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