On October 15, 2024, a report from Jefferies highlighted a decline in Bitcoin (BTC) mining profitability for September, with daily revenue per exahash dropping by 2.6% month-over-month. Despite stagnant BTC prices, the network hashrate surged by 1.7%, indicating increased computational power dedicated to network security.
North America-based mining firms improved their BTC production share from 19.9% in August to 22.2% in September, attributed to better operational uptime. Marathon Digital led the sector, mining 705 BTC and achieving a hashrate of 36.9 EH/s, followed by CleanSpark at 403 BTC.
As of September 23, China and the US controlled 95% of the total Bitcoin hashrate, raising concerns about decentralization. Jefferies warned that October may be challenging for miners, as BTC prices rose only 5%, while the hashrate increased by 11%.
Following the April 2024 halving, which reduced mining rewards from 6.250 BTC to 3.125 BTC, analysts predict a potential annual revenue loss exceeding $10 billion for mining businesses. The report also noted that the outcome of the upcoming US presidential elections could influence favorable policies for the industry.
At press time, BTC traded at $65,073, reflecting a 4.0% increase in the last 24 hours.