The Bitcoin mining industry is getting squeezed hard as the crypto downturn drags miners into unprofitability, based on information gathered from Bloomberg. Companies across the sector are cutting back on hardware to slow the cash burn. The hash price just dropped to its lowest level ever, which shows how little miners now earn per unit of computing power. TheMinerMag reports that the median cost to mine (including equipment, energy, and debt) now sits above that revenue level, leaving many public miners operating at a loss. Mining firms are slowing down machines to reduce power usage after the latest drop in income. “As hash price falls, we have seen almost a 8% drop in network hashrate, this is a result of miners using firmware to underclock their machines to save power,” said Ethan Vera, the chief operating officer at Luxor Technology. Ethan said the downturn is forcing operators to stretch out every kilowatt as they continue trading used rigs to stay afloat. Miners move revenue into AI infrastructure The main pressure point is the April 2024 halving, which cuts the reward miners earn from the network. That event hits every four years and reduces the Bitcoin output they receive for validating blocks, which instantly reshapes business math. Many miners now rely on hybrid setups involving AI and high-performance computing, a shift that lifted their stocks earlier this year even as core mining revenue shrank. Companies that now operate AI data centers pulled in billions of dollars to expand those facilities, but Bitcoin still brings in most of their income. Core Scientific collected about 21% of third-quarter revenue from high-performance compute services, while Terawulf brought in 14% from the same line. IREN Ltd., which saw its stock climb more than fourfold this year, generated around 3% of its revenue from high-performance computing, based on TheMinerMag’s estimates. TheMinerMag also reported that break-even prices for 14 tracked miners climbed by roughly 20% from a mean of $90,000 per Bitcoin in the third quarter. With Bitcoin averaging $104,000 so far in the fourth quarter, down from $114,000 the prior quarter, and trading around $92,000 on Wednesday, most miners fall short of profit. “Investors that are piling in or had piled in to these companies over the most recent months are mainly concerned about the AI business, with very little interest in their Bitcoin mining operations,” said Mike Colonnese, managing director of equity research at HC Wainwright & Co. Mike said miners are preparing to unplug machines and replace them with AI data centers over the coming years. Companies pull back as non-US miners ramp capacity Public miners are also separating their stock performance from movements in Bitcoin, as more facilities once dedicated to mining switch to AI support. Core Scientific, Terawulf, IREN, and Cipher Mining have long-term contracts with companies like Google and Microsoft to host AI demand that could bring in billions of dollars. “There has been a fundamental shift in Bitcoin mining as many major players exit the sector,” said Wolfie Zhao, analyst at TheMinerMag. Wolfie pointed out that Bitfarms Ltd. announced plans last month to wind down mining operations over the next few years to build new AI centers instead. Other miners that once chased aggressive expansion have paused announcements about growth plans. Wolfie said private companies outside the U.S. now account for more of the global hashrate, as U.S.-listed operators lose ground. “It is the companies with smaller balance sheets and a lot of debt that will struggle the most,” Ethan said. “It is going to be a pretty grim Q4 for a lot of miners, and it is even worse if you include their GPU businesses, which haven’t made any revenue yet.” The mining boom of early 2021 pushed the sector into a multibillion-dollar industry as companies bought specialized machines, built large data centers, and secured huge amounts of power across the country. Today, some of those same sites are being reused for AI, while others require brand-new construction. More than 95% of all Bitcoin that will ever exist have already been mined. Once the final coin arrives sometime around 2140, miners will rely entirely on transaction fees. “There is only a finite amount of Bitcoin to be mined,” Wolfie said. “Unless Bitcoin prices go to the moon, AI demand seems to be a better bet since that is a much bigger pie to begin with.” Get $50 free to trade crypto when you sign up to Bybit now
