A report from investment firm Jefferies outlines an increase in Bitcoin mining profitability alongside a rise in price and network hashrate.
Bitcoin Mining Profit Increase
According to the Jefferies report, Bitcoin mining profitability increased by 18.2% in May while the network's hashrate gained 3.5%. The hashrate measures the collective computational power used to mine and process transactions on a Proof-of-Work (PoW) blockchain like Bitcoin.
The rise in hashrate indicates increased competition among miners, while Bitcoin's price also saw growth, boosted by the recent rally in gold prices.
Leaders Among US Mining Companies
The Jefferies report also detailed the amount of Bitcoin mined by US-listed companies last month. All US-listed mining facilities mined a total of 3,754 BTC in May, representing a notable increase compared to April's 3,278 BTC. Additionally, North American miners accounted for 26.3% of the total network hashrate in May, up from 24.1% the previous month.
Among these firms, MARA Holdings mined 950 Bitcoin, marking a 35% increase from April, raising its total reserves to 49,179 BTC. CleanSpark followed with 694 mined Bitcoin. It is important to note that MARA's hashrate remains the largest at 58.3 EH/s.
Slight Decline in Mining Difficulty
Meanwhile, Bitcoin mining difficulty has recorded a slight decline after reaching a record high, providing some relief to miners who are facing rising costs and reduced block rewards.
Data shared by CryptoQuant in mid-June indicated that the mining difficulty stood at around 126.4 trillion, just below the All-Time High of 126.9 trillion recorded on May 31. Mining difficulty adjusts every two weeks to ensure that new blocks are mined approximately every 10 minutes, regardless of the total computational power in the network.
Overall, the increase in Bitcoin mining profitability, coupled with price growth and changes in mining difficulty, indicates an active development of this sector amid global economic shifts.
