Miner profitability has plunged to unprecedented lows. Blocksbridge, a storage infrastructure firm, reports that miner hashprice has dipped below $36 per petahash per second (PH/s). This metric gauges mining profit margins.
The outlook is grim. Blocksbridge predicts a bleak future for miners if the upcoming difficulty recalculation isn't adjusted downwards. It's a tough pill to swallow for the industry.
Bitcoin's price has bounced back after its August 5 tumble. Yet miner hashprice still hovers around $40 PH/s. This is 10% lower than the previous all-time low in July 2024. Talk about a double whammy.
Big public mining companies are feeling the heat. MARA, Core Scientific, and Riot Platforms each face projected monthly mining costs of $60,000 or more per Bitcoin. MARA's all-in mining cost for July topped the charts. Ouch.
These high costs hit differently across the board. MARA and Riot Platforms plan to hodl their Bitcoin. Core Scientific, on the flip side, sells 100% of its mined Bitcoin to cover operational costs.
Each strategy has its pros and cons. MARA and Riot take on debt to expand and bet on future appreciation. Core Scientific reduces debt but takes a hit selling at current prices. It's a classic case of damned if you do, damned if you don't.
July saw some miners cling to their coins. CleanSpark only sold 2.54 BTC at an average price of $62,000. That's a tiny fraction of the 494 BTC they mined that month. Talk about diamond hands.
MARA, also known as Marathon Digital Holdings, bumped up its treasury by 2,282 BTC. That's about $124 million worth. They're playing the long game with their Bitcoin treasury strategy.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin's mining difficulty has gone through the roof. It hit a new all-time high of about 90.6 trillion on August 1. This reverses months of relative decline.
The mining difficulty gets recalculated every 2,016 blocks. It's set to readjust the week of August 12. Miners are on the edge of their seats, hoping for some relief. But in this wild world of crypto, who knows what's coming next?