Bitcoin Miners' Income Stabilizes Post-Halving, Revenue Up 42%

Bitcoin miners' income has shown signs of stabilization following the network's halving event in April 2024. According to data from Coin Metrics, mining revenues reached $3.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024, marking a 42% increase from the previous quarter. This trend continued into the first quarter of 2025, with revenues approaching $3.6 billion. The halving event, which occurs every four years, reduced mining rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC per block, significantly impacting miners' earnings. However, the recent data indicates that miners have adapted to the reduced block rewards and tighter margins, leading to a period of stabilization.

Coin Metrics' Q1 2025 Data Special report highlighted that miners have endured a period of stabilization, adapting to the reduced block rewards and shifting operational dynamics. This adaptation includes upgrading to more energy-efficient ASICs (Application-Specific Integrated Circuits) and relocating to regions with cheaper and abundant renewable energy resources, such as Africa and Latin America. Additionally, miners are diversifying their revenue streams by venturing into AI data-center hosting, repurposing existing infrastructure for high-performance computing. For example, Bitcoin miner Core Scientific pledged 200 megaWatts of hardware capacity to support CoreWeave’s artificial intelligence workloads.

Despite these adaptations, the recovery of miners' income could be disrupted by ongoing trade wars. Ben Yorke, VP of Ecosystem at WOO, a Web3 startup, warned that if semiconductor tariffs return, Bitcoin mining could face higher costs. This could lead to a consolidation of power among major players and force smaller operations to power down. The hashrate, which measures the total computing power securing the Bitcoin network, broke all-time highs in January, indicating that well-capitalized miners have managed to adapt to the new conditions.

To sustain mining incentives post-halving, increased transaction activity on the Bitcoin network is crucial. According to Coin Metrics, higher-value or more time-sensitive activities could drive stronger fee revenue, supporting miner incentives as block rewards decline. However, currently, transactions below $100 represent approximately 60% of Bitcoin’s total transaction count. This is partly because holders are increasingly treating Bitcoin as a buy-and-hold asset rather than a medium of exchange. Bitcoin’s supply velocity, which measures the ratio of adjusted transfer volume to its current supply, has declined over time, reinforcing the idea that BTC is increasingly held rather than transacted.