JPMorgan: Bitcoin miners’ profits keep shrinking even as competition eases Wall Street’s JPMorgan says mining profits fell again in December even though network competition eased — a sign that lower hashrate hasn’t translated into relief for miners. Key takeaways from the bank’s December snapshot (analysts Reginald Smith and Charles Pearce): - Network hashrate — the combined computational power securing Bitcoin’s proof-of-work network — dropped for a second month, sliding 30 EH/s (‑3% m/m) to an average of 1,045 EH/s in December. “The monthly average network hashrate, a proxy for industry competition, declined 30 EH/s (-3%) m/m to an average of 1,045 EH/s in December,” the analysts wrote. - Despite reduced competition, mining revenue and margins fell. JPMorgan estimates miners earned $38,700 per EH/s in daily block reward revenue last month — down 7% versus November and 32% year-over-year, the lowest level on record. - Daily block reward gross profit dropped 9% to $17,100 per EH/s. JPMorgan didn’t lay out a full cause list, but the report points to factors that likely squeezed margins: weaker Bitcoin prices since October, the impact of the most recent halving, and elevated energy costs. Still, investor appetite for U.S.-listed miners stayed strong through 2025. The combined market cap of 14 U.S.-listed Bitcoin miners and data-center operators tracked by JPMorgan rose to $48 billion by year-end — a 73% gain for the year. Performance among names was mixed last month: Hut 8 (HUT) led the pack with a 2% rise, while CleanSpark (CLSK) plunged 33%. Only two of the 14 outperformed Bitcoin in December, but nine beat the cryptocurrency over the full year, led by IREN and Cipher Mining (CIFR). Bottom line: Lower hashrate has not arrested a multi-factor profitability slump for miners. Even as competitive pressure eased slightly, revenue per unit of mining power hit record lows, keeping margins tight for operators already battling halving-related supply shocks and higher energy costs. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news