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Bitcoin Miners Face Record-Low Margins as Hashprice Drops and Costs Climb
TL;DR
The Bitcoin mining sector is entering one of its most difficult financial periods on record, with revenue compression and rising operational burdens putting pressure on even the most established mining firms, according to new analysis from TheMinerMag.
The publication reports that miners are now navigating what it calls the harshest margin conditions the industry has ever experienced. Hashprice — the amount of revenue miners earn per unit of hashing power — has declined steeply from an average of around $55 per petahash per second in the third quarter to near $35 PH/s. The report characterizes this level as structurally weak rather than a short-lived downturn.
This severe compression follows a major pullback in Bitcoin’s price, which fell from its October peak near $126,000 to below $80,000 in November. As revenues fall, cost-per-hash has become a critical indicator of efficiency, revealing an expanding performance gap between top-tier miners and those struggling to stay afloat.
Newer-generation machines now require more than 1,000 days to break even — a worrying timeframe given that the next Bitcoin halving is expected in about 850 days, meaning many units may never fully pay themselves off before block rewards are cut again.
The MinerMag notes that miners’ balance sheets are beginning to reflect the severity of the environment. One example is CleanSpark’s recent decision to repay its Bitcoin-backed credit line with Coinbase, signaling an industry-wide shift toward reducing debt and conserving liquidity as margins shrink.
The downturn in mining economics has also spilled into public markets. Mining stocks have been hit hard since mid-October, with the sector experiencing steep declines across the board.
MARA Holdings has dropped roughly 50 percent from its October high, while CleanSpark has fallen around 37 percent. Riot Platforms shares are down 32 percent, and HIVE Digital Technologies has seen the sharpest decline, losing more than half its value since reaching its October peak.
The combination of falling revenue, rising costs, and deteriorating equity valuations underscores the most challenging market phase Bitcoin miners have faced in the industry’s 15-year history.
