Though the month isn’t quite over yet, bitcoin miners have already outperformed their November earnings, amassing $1.33 billion in December with two days still on the clock.
Bitcoin Ends the Year With Record Hashrate and Higher Revenue
This uptick in revenue has been fueled by stronger bitcoin prices, but there’s a twist. The hashprice, which measures the estimated value of 1 petahash per second (PH/s) of SHA256 output, has dipped compared to 30 days ago. Back then, it was hovering around $61.78 per PH/s, whereas today, it stands at $55.57. Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s hashrate surged to an all-time high of over 805 exahash per second (EH/s) within the same 30-day period.
Dec. 29 brings a scheduled difficulty adjustment, expected to see a small rise. This adjustment is driven by block intervals being discovered slightly quicker than the 10-minute target, averaging 9 minutes and 53 seconds. Currently, the network’s total computational power is clocking in at 791.45 EH/s. Sixty-five entities are contributing to BTC mining operations, each wielding at least 286.33 kilohash per second (KH/s) or more.
Despite the decline in hashprice, December revenue has already outshined November’s total of $1.21 billion, according to data from theblock.co. Of that November revenue, $38.73 million came from onchain fees. With $1.33 billion earned so far this month, miners are closing the year on a high note.
So far, with still two days left in December, November’s collection of fees is still ahead. In December, bitcoin miners have so far obtained $37.69 million from onchain fees while the remainder or $1.29 billion stemmed from Bitcoin’s subsidy. With just over 48 hours left this year, it is quite likely that bitcoin miners will see more funds in fees this month than November’s total.
As we near the end of the month, the sector seems poised for further growth, buoyed by ever-increasing computational power and steady market appetite. Despite the occasional hiccup in profits, the drive remains powerful, thanks to technological leaps and the broadening scope of operations.
