CleanSpark, a publicly traded Bitcoin miner, reported a 5% increase in share prices following a strong production report for September. The company ended the month with 13,011 BTC in its treasury, reflecting significant year-over-year improvements in both efficiency and production.
In detail, CleanSpark announced that its monthly Bitcoin output rose by 27% compared to September 2024, mining 629 BTC. Additionally, it sold 445 BTC for approximately $48.7 million, averaging a price of $109,568 for each Bitcoin. Their fleet’s efficiency also improved by 26% year-over-year, achieving an average operating hashrate of 45.6 EH/s.
As part of its strategy to achieve financial independence, CleanSpark has been selling portions of its monthly Bitcoin production since April, and has established an institutional Bitcoin trading desk to support these sales. In August, the firm generated $60.7 million through the sale of 533.5 BTC.
After the release of these results, CleanSpark’s stock on Nasdaq increased by 5.28%, marking a weekly gain of over 23%. A comprehensive report from October 1 revealed that the total market capitalization for 15 major publicly listed Bitcoin miners reached an all-time high of $58.1 billion in September, a significant growth from $41.6 billion in August and considerably more than the $19.9 billion registered in March.
Challenges Facing Bitcoin Mining
Despite the positive investor sentiment towards publicly traded mining firms, the Bitcoin mining sector confronts rising challenges such as elevated energy costs and potential tariffs on imported mining equipment.
Reports from August indicated that U.S. Customs and Border Protection had claimed that some of CleanSpark’s mining rigs from 2024 were produced in China, which could potentially impose tariff liabilities up to $185 million. Additionally, Iris Energy, the leading Bitcoin miner by market capitalization, is contesting a distinct tariff dispute worth $100 million with the agency.
Currently, some machines manufactured in China face an effective duty rate of 57.6%, while mining equipment from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand is subjected to tariffs of 21.6%. Moreover, Bitcoin mining difficulty has reached unprecedented levels in September and October, requiring miners to invest more computational power and energy to extract the same quantity of Bitcoin.
CleanSpark shares performance. Source: Yahoo Finance
Related: Bitcoin miner accumulation hits fastest pace since 2023 rally
