Bitcoin Miners Feel the Pinch as Hash Rate Erases Post-Election Gains

According to a February 2025 report by TheMinerMag, Bitcoin miners are once again under financial pressure due to falling transaction fees and a declining hashrate price, leading to higher operating costs.

Bitcoin’s hashrate increased by 3.8% in February to 810 EH/s, indicating that the competitive mining race is slowing. However, the hashrate (the profit miners make per unit of computing power) has fallen to $45/PH/s, offsetting the gains from the U.S. election-related price increases. At this level, less efficient miners are under pressure.

In February, transaction fees accounted for only 1.3% of total block rewards, the lowest level since the last bear market low in 2022. March has seen an even lower trend at 1.12%.

These circumstances—along with increased competition from artificial intelligence (AI)-powered data centers—are putting additional pressure on mining companies that rely on hosting agreements and asset-light strategies.

MARA maintains its industry lead with 44 EH/s after a 6% increase in hashrate, while CleanSpark increased 12% to 39 EH/s. Meanwhile, total Bitcoin holdings among miners exceeded 100,000 BTC for the first time, despite some companies like HIVE Digital and Cipher Mining selling their products to fund expansion.

Mining stocks took a hit, with the combined market cap of 15 major companies falling from $36 billion in January to $22 billion in March. Cipher, Canaan, Hut 8, HIVE, and Bitdeer all suffered losses exceeding 40%.

With network growth slowing and energy prices rising, miners will need an increase in the price of Bitcoin to avoid further financial pressure.

Disclaimer: Portions of this article were generated using AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adhere to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk’s full AI policy.

Source: cryptonews.net