The cost of a Bitcoin ASIC miner has dropped to levels not seen in years.

As more and more Bitcoin mining hardware enters the market, the per-terahash cost of application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) miners has dropped by more than 80% since its 2021 high.

As another indicator of the worsening crypto bear market, the price of Bitcoin ASIC miners (machines optimized for the sole purpose of mining Bitcoin) has dropped to levels not seen since 2020 and 2021.

Recent data from Hashrate Index shows that the price of the most efficient ASIC miners, those producing at least one terahash per 38 joules of energy, has dropped from its all-time high of $119.25 on May 7, 2021 to its all-time low of $15.71 on December 25.

Such miners include the Antminer S19 from Bitmain and the Whatsminer M30 from MicroBTC.

The same is true of mid-range machines, whose average price is now $10.23, down a whopping 89.36% from its peak price of $96.24 on May. 7, 2021.

There has been a 91% drop in price from its all-time high of $52.85 to its current price of $4.72 for the least efficient machines, which require more than 68 Joules per TH. Around November 5, 2020 was the last time the price was this low.

Large Bitcoin mining firms have had a hard time staying profitable throughout the bear market, leading many of them to either file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, take on debt, or sell their BTC holdings and equipment to stay afloat, all of which have contributed to the price decline.

Companies such as Core Scientific, Marathon Digital, Riot Blockchain, Bitfarms, and Argo Blockchain are examples of those that have achieved this.

Nonetheless, the drastic price drop has been met with considerable interest from buyers. Many mining facilities, including BitRiver, are located in Russia because of the country's abundant supply of cheap electricity; using the most up-to-date equipment, a single Bitcoin (BTC) can be mined for as little as $0.07 per kilowatt-hour there.

Although it is difficult to foretell the future course of ASIC miner prices, Nico Smid of Digital Mining Solutions pointed out in a tweet on December 21 that ASIC miner prices bottomed at Bitcoin's last halving cycle in May. 11, 2020, and then rose aggressively shortly after. This pattern may repeat itself in Bitcoin's next halving cycle, which is expected to take place on Apr. 20, 2024.