The Bitcoin mining industry is witnessing a rise in competition as mid-tier operators enhance their hashrate and take on significant debt following the 2024 halving, altering the industry’s power dynamics.
Reports from The Miner Mag indicate that companies like Cipher Mining, Bitdeer, and HIVE Digital have rapidly scaled their hashrate, catching up to dominant players such as MARA Holdings, CleanSpark, and Cango.
“Their ascent highlights how the middle tier of public miners — once trailing far behind — has rapidly scaled production since the 2024 halving,” The Miner Mag wrote in its latest Miner Weekly newsletter.
While MARA, CleanSpark, and Cango continue to hold the top three positions among public miners, companies like IREN, Cipher, Bitdeer, and HIVE Digital have shown substantial year-over-year gains in their hashrate.
As of September, the leading public miners achieved a total of 326 exahashes per second (EH/s) in realized hashrate, more than double what was seen a year prior, now representing nearly one-third of Bitcoin’s network hashrate.
Year-over-year growth in realized hashrate. Source: The Miner Mag
Hashrate reflects the total computational power miners contribute to securing the Bitcoin blockchain. In contrast, realized hashrate measures actual on-chain performance — the rate at which valid blocks are successfully mined. For publicly traded miners, realized hashrate is a critical metric indicating operational efficiency and revenue potential, particularly as third-quarter earnings approach.
Bitcoin Miners Enter a Debt-Fueled Competition
As competition heats up, Bitcoin mining firms are incurring record levels of debt to invest in new technologies, including mining rigs and artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Research from VanEck shows that total debt in the sector has skyrocketed to $12.7 billion, a significant jump from $2.1 billion just a year ago. To keep pace with Bitcoin’s total hashrate and not fall behind rivals, miners need to constantly invest in the latest hardware.
The growing debt of Bitcoin miners. Source: VanEck
Some have started leveraging AI and high-performance computing to diversify revenue streams and mitigate decreasing margins after the 2024 Bitcoin halving, which has reduced block rewards to 3.125 BTC.
Related: HIVE Digital accelerates AI pivot with $100M HPC expansion
Tags: #Bitcoin, #Blockchain, #Mining, #BitcoinMining, #Hashrate
