In September, publicly traded crypto miners experienced a third consecutive month of declining daily revenue, despite a rise in the value of Bitcoin. The increased network difficulty contributed to challenging conditions for miners as the Bitcoin network’s hash rate grew to 643 exahashes per second (EH/s), a 2% increase from August, according to a JPMorgan report. Miners saw their earnings per EH/s fall by 6% month-over-month to an average of $42,100.
Despite Bitcoin’s 7% price increase in September, which helped it recover much of its August slump, the overall market capitalization of 14 U.S.-listed Bitcoin miners tracked by JPMorgan rose by 4% to $21 billion. Here’s how some of the largest miners performed during the month:
1. Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA):
– Produced 705 BTC, a 6% increase from August.
– Did not sell any of its holdings, which now total 26,842 BTC.
– CEO Fred Thiel highlighted the company’s globally diversified operations, stating they achieved an energized hash rate of 36.9 EH/s, a 5% growth from August.
2. Riot Platforms (RIOT):
– Mined 412 BTC, a 28% increase from August.
– Holds 10,427 BTC in total.
– CEO Jason Les attributed the growth to operational improvements and hash rate increases, especially with the completion of its third 100 MW building at the Corsicana Facility.
3. CleanSpark (CLSK):
– Mined 493 BTC, bringing its total holdings to 8,049 BTC.
– CEO Zach Bradford emphasized the company’s resilience and growth, noting that CleanSpark’s stock price increased by 145% year-over-year by the end of September.
4. Bitfarms (BITF):
– Produced 217 BTC, down 7% from the previous month due to rising network difficulty.
– Sold 173 BTC but added 44 BTC to its treasury, which now holds 1,147 BTC, valued at $73.4 million.
5. TeraWulf (WULF):
– Mined 176 BTC, operating at an average of 8.2 EH/s.
– CEO Paul Prager noted that the company focused on demand response events and performance tuning to maximize profitability.
6. Core Scientific (CORZ):
– Mined 345 BTC, slightly down from 358 BTC in August.
– Sold 370 BTC during the month.
Despite the challenging conditions due to increased hash rate and network difficulty, some companies like Riot Platforms and CleanSpark showed significant operational improvements and growth in their Bitcoin production.