Bitcoin Hashrate Growth Faces a Slowdown in January
After a period of rapid growth, Bitcoin’s hashrate experienced a noticeable slowdown in January, as highlighted in the recent report by TheMinerMag. This shift was marked by the first decline in network difficulty since September, suggesting that while publicly traded mining companies continue to ramp up their hash power, this increase hasn’t been sufficient to offset the capitulation of numerous smaller operators.
The total revenue generated from Bitcoin (BTC) mining remained stable at approximately $1.4 billion for the month. Publicly traded mining companies, which collectively possess 99,000 BTC (valued at roughly $9.7 billion), represented around 30% of the hashrate market share in January. This competitive landscape among the largest publicly traded companies has intensified significantly.
Leading the pack, Marathon Digital (MARA) maintained its position as the foremost mining firm with a realized hashrate of 41.65 EH/s. Following closely was CleanSpark, achieving 34.77 EH/s, and Riot Platforms, known for its aggressive expansion, recorded 31.27 EH/s. The report noted, “The competition within the 30 EH/s group is heating up like never before, while the gap between the 30 EH/s tier and the 10 EH/s group—comprising Core Scientific, Cipher Mining, and Bitfarms—continues to widen.”
The increase in market share among the top miners is not unexpected. The recent Bitcoin halving event has halved mining rewards, severely impacting the industry’s profit margins, even with Bitcoin prices hovering near $100,000. In this challenging environment, smaller players are finding it increasingly difficult to compete against established operations that are better equipped to dominate the market. Many miners are now exploring alternative revenue streams, such as hosting machines for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) firms.
Additionally, the report highlighted a slowdown in mining hardware imports to the U.S. during January, which has been a contributing factor to the stabilization of hashrate growth. However, several firms, including Blockchain Power Corp and AcroHash, have notably imported substantial amounts of cooling infrastructure from Bitmain.
Looking ahead, TheMinerMag anticipates another decline in difficulty adjustments in February, as smaller mining operators may exit the market due to diminishing profitability.
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