Riot Platforms’ January Mining Performance
Riot Platforms (RIOT) achieved a notable milestone in January by mining 527 Bitcoin (BTC), which represents its highest monthly production since December 2023. This figure reflects a 2% increase compared to the previous month, according to data compiled by Farside. However, the overall landscape of the Bitcoin mining industry revealed disappointing production numbers, as many prominent mining companies experienced declines in their month-over-month output.
MARA Holdings (MARA) reported mining 750 BTC in January, indicating a 13% decrease from its December figures. Similarly, Cleanspark (CLSK) experienced a 6% dip, mining 626 BTC. Other notable mining firms also faced reductions in their production outputs:
- IREN (IREN): 2% decline
- Core Scientific (CORZ): 13% decline
- Cipher Mining (CIFR): 7% decline
- Bitfarms (BITF): 5% decline
- Hut 8 (HUT): 31% decline
The significant drop in Bitcoin production across the sector can be largely attributed to the rising network difficulty, a challenge noted by the CEOs of both Riot and MARA. Fred Thiel, the chairman and CEO of MARA, commented, “In January, our production experienced a 12% decline in the number of blocks won, primarily due to fluctuations in network difficulty and intermittent curtailment.” In contrast, Jason Les, CEO of Riot, emphasized, “Riot mined 527 Bitcoin in January, marking the second consecutive month of increased production despite the growing network difficulty.”
Bitcoin’s mining difficulty is adjusted every 2,016 blocks to ensure that the average block time remains around 10 minutes. The next anticipated difficulty adjustment, scheduled for February 9, is projected to reach an unprecedented high, surpassing the previous record of 108.11 trillion (T).
Mining Stocks Performance Year-to-Date
Year-to-date (YTD), Bitcoin has risen by 4%, serving as a benchmark for the performance of mining stocks. Among the mining companies:
- Cipher Mining (CIFR) stands out as the top performer, with a remarkable increase of 27%
- IREN, RIOT, and CLSK have all recorded double-digit gains
- Bitdeer Technologies (BTDR) has seen a decline of 25%
- Core Scientific (CORZ) and TerraWulf (WULF) have both dropped by approximately 10%.
It is worth noting that Hive (HIVE), BTDR, and WULF have yet to disclose their Bitcoin production figures for January, leaving investors and analysts eagerly awaiting their updates.
