Key Points:
- Bitcoin mining profitability has increased for the second month in a row as of December.
- Miners' daily earnings and gross profits remain significantly below pre-halving figures.
- The total market capitalization for the mining stocks monitored by JPMorgan dropped to $28 billion last month, declining by 23%.
Bitcoin (BTC) miners reported a rise in daily revenues and profits for the second consecutive month, culminating in their highest figures since April, according to a research report from JPMorgan (JPM). Mining profitability is attributed to a sustained rise in the value of Bitcoin outpacing the growth in the network hashrate.
JPMorgan determined that bitcoin miners achieved an average of $57,100 in daily block reward revenues per exahash per second (EH/s) in December, marking a 10% increase from November.
However, profits for miners are still 43% and 52% lower than pre-halving levels, respectively, noted analysts Reginald Smith and Charles Pearce.
The network hashrate increased by 6% in December, averaging 779 EH/s. This metric refers to the total computational power associated with mining and validating transactions on a proof-of-work blockchain. Furthermore, mining difficulty rose 7% from the previous month, now standing 27% above levels recorded before the April halving event. The hashrate saw a 54% increase in 2024 but was slower compared to 103% in 2023.
JPMorgan also highlighted that the market cap for the 14 publicly listed bitcoin miners it tracks fell by 23% to $28 billion in December, although it had previously risen by 52% in November.
Among the miners, TeraWulf (WULF) was the only one to surpass Bitcoin's performance last year, achieving a gain of 136%, while Bitcoin itself saw an increase of about 120%.
Read more: Bitcoin Miners Are Expected to be Profitable in December, Jefferies Says
