The year 2022 saw a decline in Bitcoin mining due to various challenges faced by the industry, including rising electricity prices, the collapse of crypto firms, loan defaults, and a bear market. According to CoinTelegraph, public miners sold off nearly 100% of their mined coins, with a total of 40,300 Bitcoins being sold.
However, 2023 started on a good note. According to Hashrate Index analysis, the production of Bitcoin from mining companies increased by 10% in January, with Core Scientific leading the way by mining 1,527 coins. Companies such as Riot, Marathon, and CleanSpark followed with 740, 687, and 697 mined coins respectively.
The increase was attributed to stable weather conditions and fuel prices. Other mining companies such as Cipher, Iris Energy, and Argo also saw an increase in the number of mined Bitcoins compared to the previous month.
Jaran Melleurd, a Bitcoin mining analyst at Hashrate Index, predicted that these companies would significantly increase the hashrate by the end of the second quarter of 2023. This would contribute to the overall security and stability of the Bitcoin network. Despite the expected increase in hashrate, growth is still considered slower than expected.
Core Scientific, the leading Bitcoin mining company, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December 2022 due to increasing energy costs and declining crypto prices. Despite the difficulties, the company was still generating a positive cash flow but needed assistance to maintain the equipment used for the mining process.
Melleurd believes that Core Scientific is steadily growing its self-mining hashrate and has the know-how to build and operate mining facilities, even in the face of unstable finances.
In his words:
“Core Scientific steadily grows its self-mining hashrate as usual. The bankrupt mining giant may not have had control over its finances, but at least it knows how to build and operate mining facilities. It grew its hashrate from 15.7 to 17 EH/s in January, continuing its uninterrupted streak of months of positive hashrate growth since its inception.”
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