Bitcoin hashrate hits 1,000 EH/s as Gulf oil producers divert gas flares to mining

Bitcoin’s network hashrate surpassed 1,000 exahashes per second (1 zettahash) for the first time, driven largely by new mining operations in Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the UAE that convert previously flared natural gas into mining electricity. Saudi Aramco’s subsidiary GasProcessing Co. disclosed it now operates 1.4 GW of dedicated mining capacity across three coastal sites. Flared gas costs nothing at the wellhead. Bitcoin turns it into revenue. The Gulf states spent decades burning associated gas because pipeline infrastructure did not reach. Now they do not need pipelines. They need ASICs.