Bitcoin miners saw a rise in daily revenue and gross profit for the second consecutive month in December, reaching the highest levels since April, according to a research report by JPMorgan (JPM) released on Monday.
The increase in mining profitability came as the rally in Bitcoin (BTC), the world’s largest cryptocurrency, continued to outperform the growth in network hashrate, the report noted. JPMorgan estimated that miners earned an average of $57,100 per exahash per second (EH/s) in daily block reward revenue last month, a 10% increase compared to November.
However, analysts Reginald Smith and Charles Pearce pointed out that daily revenue and gross profit per EH/s still remain significantly below pre-halving levels, with a 43% and 52% decrease, respectively.
In terms of network activity, the hashrate grew by 6% in December, reaching an average of 779 EH/s. Hashrate measures the total computational power used in mining and processing transactions on the Bitcoin network, and the increase indicates higher mining competition. Mining difficulty also rose by 7%, and is now 27% higher than before the reward halving event in April.
Over the course of 2024, the network hashrate saw a 54% growth, which, although positive, was slower than the 103% increase seen in 2023.
The total market capitalization of the 14 publicly listed Bitcoin mining companies tracked by JPMorgan decreased by 23% to $28 billion in December, after rising 52% in November.
TeraWulf (WULF) was the standout performer among the publicly listed miners, achieving a 136% gain in 2024, outperforming Bitcoin’s approximate 120% increase over the same period.
