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Bitcoin halving post‑mortem (19 Apr 2024) – miners’ revenue health check

The Bitcoin halving on April 20, 2024, reduced mining rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC per block, significantly impacting miners' revenues. Here's an overview of the post-halving landscape:




💸 Revenue Decline and Stabilization

Immediately following the halving, daily mining revenues dropped from approximately $6 million to under $3 million, marking a 50% reduction in block rewards. However, by Q4 2024, revenues rebounded to $3.7 billion—a 42% increase from the previous quarter—and stabilized around $3.6 billion in Q1 2025, indicating a recovery in miners' income. 


⚙️ Operational Adjustments by Miners

In response to reduced rewards, miners implemented various strategies:

Bit Digital: Mined 119.3 BTC in April 2024, a 9.6% decrease from the previous month, and maintained a 97% utilization rate. 

Bitfarms: Produced 269 BTC in April, a 2.8% daily rate reduction, while increasing its hash rate by 7% to 7.0 EH/s. 

Core Scientific: Mined 57.3 BTC within 24 hours post-halving, up from an average of 30 BTC per day pre-halving. 


These adjustments highlight efforts to maintain profitability amid decreased rewards.


🏭 Industry Consolidation and Cost Pressures

The halving intensified industry consolidation, favoring larger miners with lower production costs. Post-halving, the average production cost per BTC was approximately $37,856, with top miners facing all-in cash costs around $45,000 per BTC. Smaller miners with higher operational costs faced challenges, leading to a shift in market share toward more efficient operations.



🔄 Diversification into AI and HPC

To offset reduced mining revenues, some miners diversified into high-performance computing (HPC) and AI sectors:

Bit Digital: Expanded its HPC operations, generating $4.1 million in revenue in April 2024, with projections to reach $100 million annually. 

Core Scientific: Entered a $4.7 billion, 12-year deal with AI cloud provider CoreWeave, leveraging its data center infrastructure for AI workloads. 


These moves illustrate a strategic pivot to capitalize on the growing demand for AI and HPC services.


📈 Outlook

While the 2024 halving posed significant challenges, miners' adaptive strategies—ranging from operational efficiencies to diversification—have facilitated a degree of revenue stabilization. The industry's resilience suggests a capacity to navigate the cyclical nature of Bitcoin's economic model.



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