Bitcoin mining profitability has plummeted since the recent halving, with the “hashprice” reaching its lowest levels in history over the past two months, as revealed by Hashrate Index data.
Declining Hashprice Post-Halving
According to Hashrate Index, the hashprice was $92.20 per petahash/second (PH/s) per day on April 19, the day of the Bitcoin halving. This figure dropped sharply to $57.53 within a week and further declined to an all-time low of $44.76 by May 1. Hashprice, measured in USD/PH/Day, indicates the daily earnings miners receive per unit of energized hashrate they operate.
The hashrate measures the speed at which miners generate hashes, which are attempts to solve the mathematical puzzles required to mine a Bitcoin block. A hashrate of one petahash per second (1 PH/s) translates to one quadrillion hashes per second.
Several factors influence hashprice, including the Bitcoin block reward size, Bitcoin’s market price, and the total network hashrate. The halving on April 19 cut the fixed Bitcoin block reward from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC, leading to a significant drop in hashprice.
Market and Network Impact
Bitcoin’s price experienced a significant decline in June, dropping 11% due to selling pressure from the United States and German governments and concerns over a potential influx of sales from Mt. Gox bankruptcy claimants next month. As of June 27, the hashprice stands at $47.80/PH/Day.
Reduction in Mining Efforts
The reduced profitability has led miners to scale back on less profitable operations. The total Bitcoin network hashrate decreased from 625 exahashes per second (EH/s) to 581 EH/s since the halving, according to Blockchain.com.
Miners have also increased their Bitcoin sales this month. Marathon Digital (MARA), the largest publicly traded Bitcoin mining company, sold 1400 BTC in the first ten days of June, compared to 390 BTC for the entire month of May. On June 9, miners collectively sold 3000 BTC through exchanges and an additional 1200 BTC via OTC desks—the highest daily amount since March.
Strategic Shifts
In response to the challenging environment, Marathon Digital announced on Thursday its decision to diversify its mining operations by focusing on Kaspa, an alternative proof-of-work cryptocurrency network. The company has earned $16 million from Kaspa since September.
The current state of Bitcoin mining highlights the industry’s struggle with decreased profitability and the strategic shifts miners are making to adapt to the evolving landscape.
Powered by Crypto Expert BD
Follow us on Twitter: https://x.com/CryptoExpert_BD
Join our Telegram channel: https://t.me/CryptoExpert_BD
