In April, Bitcoin mining profitability dropped as the network hashrate surged by 6%, according to a report by JPMorgan.
Bitcoin miners with high-performance computing (HPC) exposure continued to lag behind Bitcoin for the third consecutive month, as noted by JPMorgan in a recent research report. This underperformance follows a trend observed since February, with companies such as IREN, RIOT, WULF, and HUT failing to match Bitcoin’s performance.
In an effort to diversify, some miners have expanded into new markets, offering HPC services to the rapidly growing artificial intelligence (AI) sector to reduce their reliance on crypto mining.
“Miners with HPC exposure (IREN, RIOT, WULF, HUT) have underperformed BTC for the third straight month,” analysts Reginald Smith and Charles Pearce wrote in the report.
The decrease in mining profitability in April was driven by a 6% increase in the network’s hashrate. Daily block reward revenue fell by 6% from March, while the average hashrate grew by about 56 exahashes per second (EH/s), a 6% month-on-month rise, bringing it to 872 EH/s.
“This was the second-largest sequential increase in the monthly average network hashrate on record,” the analysts noted.
The hashrate is an indicator of the total computational power used to mine and process transactions on the Bitcoin network, serving as a measure of industry competition and mining difficulty.
Despite the challenges, the total market capitalization of the 13 U.S.-listed mining stocks JPMorgan tracks rose by 12% from March. Among these, Greenidge (GREE) stood out, posting a notable 46% gain in April.
