Key Points
- Bitcoin mining hashrate growth slows down, marking the first drop since September.
- Despite the slowdown, Bitcoin mining remains a billion-dollar industry with large mining companies still dominating.
The growth of the Bitcoin mining hashrate is experiencing a slowdown after several months of rapid expansion. Data from TheMinerMag indicates that the Bitcoin hashrate saw a decrease in January, the first of its kind since September. While large-scale mining corporations continue to expand their operations, smaller miners are finding it increasingly difficult to compete.
Bitcoin Mining Hashrate: Dominated by Large Corporations
Despite the recent deceleration, Bitcoin mining remains a lucrative industry, generating $1.4 billion in revenue in the previous month. The difficulty of Bitcoin mining recently reached a record high of 110 trillion, indicating heightened mining activity. This surge in mining has significantly contributed to the increase in revenue.
The Bitcoin hashrate represents the total computational power utilized by miners to process transactions. A higher hashrate implies better security for the Bitcoin network and vice versa.
Publicly traded mining companies control approximately 30% of the hashrate according to TheMinerMag’s data. Collectively, these companies hold roughly 99,000 BTC, valued at nearly $9.7 billion. Despite the intense competition, these companies maintain their stronghold on the industry.
MARA Holdings continues to lead the sector with a realized hashrate of 41.65 EH/s. The company mined 249 blocks in December and earned 890 Bitcoin in the same month. This was its second-highest monthly block production since it commenced mining operations.
In contrast to earlier data, MARA’s Bitcoin mining power increased by 15% as of December 2024, reaching approximately 53.2 EH/s. Meanwhile, CleanSpark’s hashrate rose to 34.77 EH/s, and Riot Platform’s mining power increased to 31.27 EH/s.
Challenges for Small Miners
The report indicates that large mining companies are vying for more power, with most reaching around 30 EH/s. On the other hand, smaller miners like Core Scientific, Cipher Mining, and Bitfarms, which are closer to 10 EH/s, continue to struggle.
This trend follows Bitcoin’s recent halving, which halved mining rewards and reduced profits. While large companies were prepared for this shift, smaller operators found it more challenging to remain profitable.
Many big miners are now exploring alternative revenue streams, such as providing hosting services for AI and high-performance computing firms. Meanwhile, the Riot platform has continued to ramp up its Bitcoin acquisition strategy and is focusing on improving its facility development.
The importation of mining hardware to the US also slowed in January, contributing to the deceleration of hashrate growth. However, some companies, like Blockchain Power Corp and AcroHash, are still importing more cooling equipment from Bitmain.
The slowdown in importing Bitcoin mining hardware is tied to the ongoing trade war between the United States and China. The Trump administration heightened import tariffs and increased regulatory scrutiny across several industries upon taking office.
TheMinerMag report predicts that February could witness another drop in mining difficulty as more small-scale operators may likely exit the market.
