Bitcoin Miners Are Struggling After ETF Launch—Except One
After outperforming BTC last year, Bitcoin miners now look stagnant against the digital currency.
By Andrew Throuvalas

3 min read

Mar 1, 2024



The Bitcoin ETF launch in January has sent the price of BTC flying over the past 50 days, but companies that mine the top cryptocurrency have not been nearly as jubilant as the people who invest in it. With one notable exception.

Shares in several public mining firms are trading flat or down in 2024 so far. Riot Platforms (RIOT) has fallen 6.2%, and Iris Energy (IREN) has sunk 11%. While mining giants like Bitfarms (BITF) and Marathon Digital (MARA) have appreciated, it’s only by a modest 5% and 17% respectively.

Meanwhile, the price of BTC is up 42% year-to-date, with BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) up 35% since the moment it launched.

The contrast is unusual given the close relationship between Bitcoin’s price and miners’ business model. Mining firms buy expensive machinery and power to gather a consistent supply of new BTC issued by the network.

Since the mining industry at large receives direct BTC-denominated payouts, their dollar-based revenue naturally rises in direct proportion to Bitcoin’s price. Right now, miners earn 6.25 BTC with each Bitcoin block, which is produced every 10 minutes on average.

That said, with the Bitcoin halving coming up in April, the per-BTC reward is set to permanently fall to 3.125 BTC per block. Several analysts from firms like JPMorgan and others agree that the halving could push smaller, less efficient miners out of business.

“There has been a healthy pullback in the miner category over the last few days,” Isaac Holyoak, Chief Communications Officer of CleanSpark, told Decrypt. “But prior to that, mining stocks really front ran the recent Bitcoin price increase—almost all miners were well ahead of Bitcoin.”

“We are seeing a bit of a stabilization across the industry as Bitcoin and mining stocks return to parity,” he said.

Miners do have other sources of revenue, however—and that’s been a saving grace for Bitcoin-friendly cloud computing firm CleanSpark (CLSK).

The popularization of Bitcoin BRC-20 tokens last year helped boost transaction fees on Bitcoin, giving miners extra juicy payouts with each block. On a larger scale, Bitcoin mining firms are also breaking into AI by supporting the emerging tech with high-performance cloud computing services. This, executives say. is much more profitable per unit of energy than BTC mining.

CleanSpark stands out among public Bitcoin miners for outperforming BTC this year. Its shares are up 64% year-to-date, more than doubling in value last month.

Over the past 12 months, CLSK has greatly outperformed BTC, up 603%.

Holyoak argued that Bitcoin ETFs and mining firms present different opportunities to investors depending on their risk appetite.

“Miners that are prepared for halving will likely continue to be rewarded with investor confidence,” he concluded.

Get crypto news straight to your inbox--
sign up for the Decrypt Daily below. (It’s free).
Get Email!

Recommended News
SEC's Hester Peirce Says Regulator's Approach to Crypto Has Been ’Strange’
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissioner Hester Peirce used her opportunity on stage at ETH Denver to sustain her criticisms of her own agency, expressing frustration over “regulating by enforcement” and lambasting the SEC for dragging its heels on approving spot Bitcoin ETFs. “The Grayscale case basically gave us the option of approving a Bitcoin exchange-traded product, and it's remarkable to me that it took a court to tell us that we had to do that,” Peirce said during a “fireside” conversat...

Minecraft Banned NFTs—So ‘NFT Worlds’ Built Its Own Crypto Game Instead
When Minecraft announced that it would ban NFTs from one of the world’s biggest games in 2022, one blockchain project in particular took the hardest hit: NFT Worlds. Two years later, the rebranded Hytopia is now aiming to make a big splash on its own—and maybe take some of the shine off of the Web2 gaming smash. With a customized Minecraft server as its home world, NFT Worlds had minted and sold scarce chunks of in-game land as NFTs on Ethereum scaling network Polygon. They’d sold for as much as...

News

Courses

Deep Dives

Coins

Videos

Coindesk Logo
Policy
U.S. Department of Energy Will Start Comment Period on Miner Survey Proposal
The comment period comes as the result of an agreement after crypto industry participants sued the DOE.
By Nikhilesh De
AccessTimeIcon
Mar 1, 2024, 9:03 PM
Updated Mar 1, 2024, 9:05 PM
ASIC Miners (Sandali Handagama/CoinDesk)
ASIC Miners (Sandali Handagama/CoinDesk)


10 Years of Decentralizing the Future
May 29-31, 2024 - Austin, Texas
The biggest and most established global hub for everything crypto, blockchain and Web3.
Register Now
The Energy Information Administration, a division within the Department of Energy, said it would solicit feedback on its crypto miner survey after coming to an agreement with the Texas Blockchain Council and Riot Platforms (RIOT).
According to the agreement, the EIA will publish a notice proposing its planned miner survey, taking comments for 60 days. The notice will replace the previous survey, which was issued under emergency status.

The survey, which asked miners questions about their energy usage, was originally published earlier this month, with EIA giving mining firms just a few weeks to respond or face fines. It was
The Texas Blockchain Council and Riot sued, securing a temporary restraining order last week. A hearing scheduled for earlier this week was canceled after the parties announced they had reached an agreement.
The EIA will "destroy any information that it has already received," the agreement said, as well as any other information it receives from the emergency survey.
"Defendants agree that in considering the comments submitted in response to the New Federal Register Notice, EIA will also consider any comments submitted in response to the February 9 Notice as if they had been submitted in response to the New Federal Register Notice," the filing said.
The agency may still choose to issue the survey after the comment period ends, according to the filing.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Recommended for you:
Bank of America, Wells Fargo to Offer Spot Bitcoin ETFs to Clients: Bloomberg
Bitcoin ETF Trading Frenzy Continues After Record $673M Net Inflow as BTC Price Nears Record
Trading Platform Robinhood, Layer-2 Arbitrum Team Up To Offer Swaps To Users
The Department of Energy will also pay the plaintiffs' attorneys' fees, totaling just under $2,200.
Edited by Stephen Alpher.
Disclosure

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk offers all employees above a certain salary threshold, including journalists, stock options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.

Nikhilesh De

Nikhilesh De is CoinDesk's managing editor for global policy and regulation. He owns marginal amounts of bitcoin and ether.

Follow @nikhileshde on Twitter

Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.

Read more about
Regulations
Department of Energy
RIOT
Coindesk Logo
About
About
Masthead
Careers
CoinDesk News
Stay Updated
Events
CoinDesk Studios
Newsletters
Follow
Get In Touch
Contact Us
Advertise
Accessibility Help
Sitemap
The Fine Print
Ethics Policy
Privacy
Terms of Use
Update My Cookie Consent
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk offers all employees above a certain salary threshold, including journalists, stock options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.

@2024 CoinDesk

TikTokIcon

HomeBusinessMarkets

Bitcoin price predictions: How much more could the cryptocurrency rise in 2024?

A bitcoin symbol is presented on an LED screen during the closing ceremony of a congress for cryptocurrency investors in Santa Maria Mizata, El Salvador, Saturday, Nov. 20, 2
By Doloresz Katanich
Published on 06/02/2024 - 07:00•Updated 28/02/2024 - 18:38
Share this article
Comments
Thinking about investing in the popular cryptocurrency? A recent report predicts that Bitcoin will reach a new all-time high in 2024.


ADVERTISEMENT
Bitcoin (BTC) is expected to reach a new record of $88,000 (€82,000) throughout the year, before it settles around $77,000 at the end of 2024, according to a new report.

The cryptocurrency's current price sits at around $43,000.

UK fintech firm Finder carried out a study based on expert price predictions of 40 crypto industry specialists on how Bitcoin is expected to perform through to 2030.

Bitcoin, it found, is likely to hit an average peak price of $87,875 in 2024, with some experts predicting it will climb as high as $200,000.

On the flip side, the average lowest price Bitcoin could hit by the end of 2024, is seen as $35,734, the report said, with some predicting it will fall as low as $20,000.


What could give Bitcoin a boost in 2024?
More than half of the experts Finder surveyed expected the price to increase after a so-called "BTC halving event" in April 2024.

A halving event refers to a period every few years when the reward for mining Bitcoin transactions is cut in half. As things stand, those validating Bitcoin transactions currently get 6.25 bitcoins, which could go down to 3.125.

Halving events lead to a lower supply, with fewer Bitcoins made available, thereby leading to higher prices.

Just under half of the 40 panellists surveyed (47%) believe that Bitcoin is going to reach a new all-time high six months after the halving event.

Kadan Stadelmann, CTO of blockchain platform Komodo, said in the report that Bitcoin is probably facing a fair bit of pressure, not only because of the expected halving event but also because "major companies and institutional investors [are] showing growing interest [in Bitcoin, which] is likely to drive demand."

Where in Europe are people investing in crypto the most?
Which crypto blockchain is preferred by terrorist organisations?
Many experts forecast more buyers on the market following the US Securities and Exchange Commission's recent approval of 11 Bitcoin ETFs (exchange-traded funds), making it easier for individual investors to trade Bitcoin-related investment funds in the US stock exchanges.

The price could be propelled further upward once the US Federal Reserve cuts the historically high benchmark rate, as analysts expect more liquidity to consequently flow into Bitcoin.

However, John Hawkins, senior lecturer at the University of Canberra, believes that cryptocurrency is still little more than a speculative bubble.

"If the new spot Bitcoin ETFs are popular, there could be a temporary price increase. But, in the medium to longer-term, I still regard Bitcoin as a speculative bubble," said Hawkins, adding there were high expectations about similar ETFs entering the market in 2021, but the price crashed later.

AI will revolutionise our lives like nothing since the printing press, says Microsoft President
What should investors embrace themselves for by 2030?
BTC is expected to potentially climb to $122,688 (€114,310) in 2025 and $366,935 (€341,878) in 2030.

However, the truncated mean, a statistical measure of central tendency, puts the expected price at around $220,708 (€205,636) by 2030.


Overall, the majority (58%) of panellists believe now is the time to buy BTC; 38% advise people to hold while 5% of panellists are in favour of a sale.

Cryptocurrencies are not regulated in the UK and there is no protection offered by the Financial Ombudsman or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.


ADVERTISEMENT
Disclaimer: This information does not constitute financial advice, always do your own research on top to ensure it's right for your specific circumstances. Also remember, we are a journalistic website and aim to provide the best guides, tips and advice from experts. If you rely on the information on this page, then you do so entirely at your own risk.

Share this article
Comments
You might also like
People shop at an open air market in Fontainebleau, south of Paris, France, Friday, Feb. 2, 2024.
ECONOMY
Eurozone retail trade figures slump as consumers feel the pinch
AP23205710314354.jpg
BUSINESS
Swiss banking giant UBS sees hopeful future, despite present losses
Stefan Bollingerm Co-head of EMEA, Goldman Sachs
MARKETS
'We are positive but cautious': Goldman Sachs on best 2024 investments
Market
cryptocurrency
Bitcoin
Investment
prices

ADVERTISEMENT
Top stories
People walk past a Zara shop closed due to sanctions in a shopping mall in St. Petersburg, Russia, Tuesday, May 31, 2022.
Zara to reopen stores in war-torn Ukraine: report
Activists protest against fossil fuels at the COP28 U.N. Climate Summit, Sunday, Dec. 10, 2023, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Big oil pays for increasing production despite climate pledges
Swiss National Bank's (SNB) Chairman of the Governing Board Thomas Jordan speaks, during a Swiss National Bank press conference, in Zurich, Switzerland. March 23, 2023.
Swiss bank chief Thomas Jordan resigns after more than a decade
President & Vice-Chair of Microsoft on The Big Question
Microsoft President on how AI is going to change life as we know it
Italian Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti waits for the start of a confidence vote for the new Government, in Rome, Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022.
Italy’s GDP inches higher but deficit comes in far worse than forecast

ADVERTISEMENT
Most read
Where does the middle class pay the highest and lowest tax in Europe?
Mortgages with interest under 1% - a new era in home financing?
Millennials set to become 'richest generation in history'
Bitcoin price predictions: How much more could it rise in 2024?
UK: Why next week's Budget is set to be underwhelming
Search

BUSINESS
ECONOMY
MARKETS
SERIES
Terms and Conditions
Cookie Policy
Modify my cookies choices

English
Visit Euronews
BUSINESS
ECONOMY
MARKETS
SERIES
My Wildest Prediction
The Big Question
Business Planet
Focus
The Dialogue
The Exchange

English

Visit Euronews