84% of BTC hashrate secured Bitcoin DeFi in Q1, but miners saw little fee upside

A notable development has hit the crypto markets. Bitcoin miners are already doing more than securing Bitcoin's base chain.  According to Rootstock's Q1 2026 merged-mining report, 84. 01% of Bitcoin's total hashrate contributed to securing Rootstock during the quarter, giving Bitcoin DeFi a hashrate-backed security claim.

The network averaged 833. 92 EH/s of Rootstock hashrate. The number is striking because Rootstock sits beside Bitcoin rather than competing for a separate set of machines.

Market Dynamics

It is a Bitcoin sidechain that uses merged mining, allowing Bitcoin mining pools to submit work to Rootstock while continuing to mine Bitcoin. In Rootstock's framing, miners can earn additional BTC-denominated rewards from Rootstock network fees without adding hardware or interrupting their Bitcoin operations. The metric tracks hashrate contributed through mining pools rather than individual miners' intent, leaving DeFi demand unanswered.

It shows that a large share of Bitcoin's hashpower, as measured by Rootstock's Q1 methodology, was also being used to secure a Bitcoin smart-contract layer. That turns the report into a signal for mining and Bitcoin DeFi infrastructure. Bitcoin DeFi, often called BTCFi, is the broader category that Rootstock is trying to secure through merged mining.

The next signal is whether that security becomes meaningful fee revenue, liquidity, and user activity. What the hashrate number means for Bitcoin DeFi Merged mining allows a miner to mine more than one compatible proof-of-work chain at the same time. 's own glossary defines merged mining as mining more than one cryptocurrency without sacrificing hash rate.

Market Impact

In Rootstock's case, the practical claim is that Bitcoin miners can reuse their existing infrastructure to secure Rootstock while remaining focused on Bitcoin. 10% of observed mining-pool hashrate participated in merged mining during Q1. Its full report lists Foundry USA, AntPool, F2Pool, ViaBTC, and SecPool among the largest contributors to Rootstock's securing hashrate.

Foundry USA accounted for 36. 62% of Rootstock's reported distribution, followed by AntPool at 19. 79%, and SecPool at 4.

Mining-pool participation determines whether merged mining remains a niche technical option or becomes a security layer backed by major Bitcoin infrastructure. A chain secured by a small pool of marginal hashpower carries a different risk profile from one receiving work from pools that already sit near the center of Bitcoin mining. Rootstock's Bitcoin hashrate data uses blockchain.

Crypto markets are watching this development closely as investors weigh its potential impact on prices.