tl;dr
In February, MARA Holdings reported a 6% decrease in blocks won and Bitcoin production due to increased network difficulty and fewer operational days. Despite this, MARA's shares finished at $13.94, up 1.3%, although they are down nearly 21% over the past month. The company also noted a 27% decrease...
MARA Holdings' mining productivity metrics fell 6% in February due to increased network difficulty and fewer operational days, impacting shares despite beating revenue and earnings expectations.
Macro uncertainties, including a trade war and reduced block rewards, have affected the mining sector, with MARA facing challenges from competition, reduced rewards, and rising energy costs.
MARA is nearing completion of a 40-megawatt data center in Ohio and plans to expand its energy generation footprint to address challenges.
Bit Digital's Bitcoin production decreased by 59% in the last quarter of 2024, while Bitdeer Technologies Group's fourth-quarter revenue dropped to $69 million from $115 million a year ago.
Both Bit Digital and Bitdeer's shares have declined significantly over the past month, despite Bitcoin's recent trading above $87,300.
In February, MARA Holdings reported a 6% decrease in blocks won and Bitcoin production due to increased network difficulty and fewer operational days. Despite this, MARA's shares finished at $13.94, up 1.3%, although they are down nearly 21% over the past month. The company also noted a 27% decrease in blocks produced compared to the previous year, alongside increased energy and hosting costs.
MARA is nearing completion of a 40-megawatt data center in Ohio and plans to expand its energy generation footprint. Bit Digital's Bitcoin production fell by 59%, while Bitdeer Technologies Group's revenue decreased from $115 million to $69 million year-over-year. Both companies' shares have also experienced significant declines in the past month. Bitcoin was trading above $87,300, up more than 1% in the past 24 hours.
MARA Holdings' blocks won and Bitcoin production—two major metrics of mining productivity—fell 6% on a month-to-month basis in February, the bitcoin miner said in a press release Tuesday. MARA attributed the declines to increased network difficulty and February's three fewer operational days than the previous month. MARA’s shares finished at $13.94, up 1.3% despite lingering in negative territory for a good part of the day. MARA is down nearly 21% over the past month, according to Yahoo Finance, amid a 10% decline in bitcoin's and wider crypto markets. Last week, the Florida-based firm noted in its fourth quarter earnings that it had produced roughly 27%, or 998, fewer blocks over the last financial quarter compared to the same period a year earlier, even as it beat analysts’ expectations for revenue and earnings per share. Those results occurred when bitcoin was still rising.
Yet a brewing trade war and other macroeconomic uncertainties that unsettled crypto markets have rippled through the mining sector. Last April, a pre-programmed update to the Bitcoin network's code slashed the number of tokens awarded to miners of each block by half, rendering mining less profitable. Meanwhile, rising energy costs have presented an additional challenge, MARA’s energy and hosting costs also rose sharply by 70%, totaling $127.4 million in Q4 2024, compared to $75.1 million in Q4 2023. In its statement, MARA said that it was nearing completion of a 40-megawatt data center in Ohio where it will install more than 10 thousand S21 Pro immersion miners and that it would look to expand its "footprint in energy generation."
Cryptocurrency miner Bit Digital’s Bitcoin production fell to roughly 165 tokens in the last quarter of 2024—a 59% decrease from the year-prior quarter. Meanwhile, Bitdeer Technologies Group notched $69 million in fourth-quarter revenue compared to $115 million a year ago. Bit Digital and Bitdeer rose 4.3% and 0.5%, respectively, on Tuesday. The companies' shares have tumbled 26% and 32% over the past month. Bitcoin was recently trading above $87,300, up more than 1% over the past 24 hours, according to crypto markets data provider CoinGecko.