Bitcoin Mining: Hashrate Slows, Competition Heats Up

Bitcoin's hashrate growth slowed in January, marking the first decline since September, according to a report from TheMinerMag. The network's difficulty also decreased, indicating that the growth of publicly listed mining companies was not enough to offset the capitulation of smaller operators.

The total revenue from Bitcoin mining remained stable at $1.4 billion for the month. Publicly traded mining companies, which collectively hold 99,000 bitcoins (worth roughly $9.7 billion), accounted for about 30% of the hashrate market share in January. Competition among the largest publicly traded companies has also intensified.

The leading mining firm, Marathon Digital (MARA), retained its top spot with a realized hashrate of 41.65 EH/s, followed by CleanSpark at 34.77 EH/s. Riot Platforms, which has been expanding aggressively, is closing in with 31.27 EH/s. The competition within the 30 EH/s group is heating up, while the gap between this tier and the 10 EH/s group continues to widen.

The recent halving event has cut Bitcoin mining rewards by half, squeezing the industry's profit margins, even with the BTC price near $100,000. In this environment, it's challenging for smaller players to compete with larger operations that were already positioned to dominate the market. Many miners are exploring alternative revenue sources, such as hosting machines for AI and HPC firms.

Mining hardware imports to the U.S. also slowed in January, contributing to the stabilization of hashrate growth. However, some firms, including Blockchain Power Corp and AcroHash, have imported significant amounts of cooling infrastructure from Bitmain.

Looking ahead, TheMinerMag predicts another difficulty adjustment decline in February as some smaller mining operators exit the market due to lower profitability. The report suggests that Bitcoin mining is a game of survival, consolidation, and potential diversification into AI-related activities.