Bitcoin Network Hashrate Up Slightly in March as Mining Economy Weakens: JPMorgan

The Bitcoin network hashrate increased by 2 exahashes per second (EH/s) in the first two weeks of March to an average of 811 EH/s, according to a research report from Wall Street bank JPMorgan (JPM) released on Monday.

JPMorgan stressed that miners registered on the American exchange maintained their share of the network hashrate at around 30%.

Hashrate refers to the total computing power used to mine and process transactions on a proof-of-work blockchain, and serves as an indicator of industry competition and the difficulty of the mining process.

Analysts Reginald Smith and Charles Pierce noted that “the average price of Bitcoin has decreased by about 10%, which has had a negative impact on the mining economy during this period.”

The report found that the hashrate price, which reflects daily mining profitability, has remained largely unchanged since the end of last month.

According to the bank, miners earned approximately $48,300 in daily block rewards on EH/s in the first two weeks of March, down 11% from February and 52% from last April, when the halving occurred.

The combined market capitalization of the 14 U.S.-listed mining companies tracked by the bank fell 13%, or about $3 billion, from the previous month.

Argo Blockchain (ARGO) performed the best, up 1%, while Cipher Mining performed the worst, falling 25%. Only one of the miners included in the bank's report outperformed Bitcoin over the same period.

Read more: Bitcoin Mining Economy Weakens in February: JPMorgan

Source: cryptonews.net