Bitcoin halving may push miners’ net profit into negative territory

2 years ago

The adjacent Bitcoin (BTC) halving, acceptable to hap successful April 2024, could plunge miner profits into the red, Bloomberg reported connected July 8.

Every 4 years, mining rewards for Bitcoin are slashed successful fractional — this lawsuit is known arsenic Bitcoin halving. Historically, each Bitcoin halvings person been followed by large bull runs, truthful investors invited the event. In 2012, 2016, and 2020, the terms of BTC accrued by 8,450%, 290%, and 560% successful a year, aft the halving events.

The upcoming halving volition chopped mining rewards from the existent 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. Until now, BTC miners person made up for the nonaccomplishment of mining rewards aft each halving by expanding their ratio with technological advancements.

The BTC terms rallies person besides worked successful the favour of miners, who could merchantability their holdings astatine ample profits. However, the study noted that things volition go much challenging adjacent twelvemonth arsenic miners woody with expanding energy costs and indebtedness burden.

Less efficiency, little profit

Jaran Mellerud, crypto mining expert astatine Hashrate Index, told Bloomberg that astir fractional of the Bitcoin miners person little than optimal ratio successful their mining operations. Therefore, these miners are apt to conflict aft the adjacent halving.

Mellerud said that the break-even energy terms of the astir communal mining instrumentality is expected to driblet from $0.12/kilowatt-hour to $0.06/kWh aft the halving. However, helium said astir 40% of BTC miners run astatine a higher outgo per kWh than $0.06/kWh.

Therefore, miners with operating costs supra $0.08/kWh and those that bash not ain mining rigs are apt to beryllium drastically impacted by the halving, Mellerud added.

Wolfie Zhao, caput of probe astatine TheMinerMag, the probe portion of mining consultancy BlocksBridge, said:

“If you number successful everything, the full outgo for definite miners is good supra Bitcoin’s existent price.

Net profits volition crook antagonistic for galore miners with little businesslike operations.”

Moreover, galore of the largest mining firms are inactive trying to trim their debt, which is eating into their profits. The indebtedness of the planetary mining manufacture has reduced from $8 cardinal successful 2022 to astir $4.5 cardinal to $6 cardinal astatine present, Ethan Vera, COO astatine Luxor Technologies, estimates.

Furthermore, mining trouble deed a grounds precocious successful June, indicating that miner contention is rising. As a result, miner nett margins are connected the decline. Kevin Zhang, elder VP astatine Foundry, said that BTC prices would person to emergence to $50,000-$60,000 adjacent twelvemonth for miners to clasp the aforesaid nett margins.

Preparations whitethorn not beryllium enough

In Q1 2023, 14 publicly-listed miners spent betwixt $7,200 and $18,900 to excavation 1 BTC, information from TheMinerMag shows. BTC halving is expected to treble the outgo of mining to astir $40,000, the Bloomberg study noted, citing JPMorgan estimates.

According to Zhang, miners hole for the halving by being “more blase with their powerfulness costs and unafraid the pricing from their powerfulness providers successful advance.”

Tiffany Wang, CEO of BTC miner Lotta Yotta, noted that portion each miners request to beryllium prepared for the halving, “a batch of miners volition yet beryllium driven retired of the market.”

The station Bitcoin halving whitethorn propulsion miners’ nett net into antagonistic territory appeared archetypal connected CryptoSlate.

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