[2019-03-08] Bitcoin Mining Profits Rise After 19-Month Slump

[tyz]

Bitcoin Mining Profits Rise After 19-Month Slump

After over a year and a half of decreasing Bitcoin mining revenue, a new report shows a small yet significant recovery in the gross margins. Let's take a look at what the mining industry has been through in recent years, and what this recovery could mean for the near future.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-03-08/bitcoin-mining-profits-rise-after-19-month-slump

[1Referee]

I think that what we have seen last year made miners wake up and realize that it isn't always party time. I'm certain that quite some farms didn't plan ahead to prepare for a correction that we have gone through last year.

The main problem are the manufacturers, and then mainly a shady entity such as Bitmain that will do everything to front run your profitability. Delaying your delivery with a few months means that you lost 25-50% in profitability. I'm glad that we're seeing some diversification in this field, but it's a very slow process. Bitmain is still the dominant company.

[anu1908]

just another cycle i guess. up and down, the problem is how can they manage when it's bear market. most miners that I know of decided to switch off their gear and try other things, or switch to staking with hope to get quick profits. it's certainly a good news for people who mine Bitcoin, especially those who lives with a cheap electricity. got more profits.

[Betwrong]

I'm surprised that they calculate profitability of mining for 0.05 kWh electricity rate:



How many places have such low rate? Isn't it much higher in most areas?

Besides, it's kWh (or kW⋅h), but definitely not kW/h as it is in the picture, which shows their lack of understanding of basic physics.

[btyco]

Miners are a good indicator on where the next price movements are headed, as long as the electricity is affordable we will have the higher difficulty levels pushing up the price

[Betwrong]

Miners are a good indicator on where the next price movements are headed, as long as the electricity is affordable we will have the higher difficulty levels pushing up the price

That would be right if miners were the only ones you could buy Bitcoin from. But they are not. There were around 657,000 BTC mined in 2018 by all the miners combined. While there are individuals with the same amount or even greater than that in their possession (keep in mind that the current circulating supply is 17,593,837 BTC). New adopters would easily buy up those 657,000 BTC during 2018 and the price would start going up if there were no whales selling by thousands each day.

[BitHodler]

Miners are a good indicator on where the next price movements are headed, as long as the electricity is affordable we will have the higher difficulty levels pushing up the price

Miners are slaves--they have to adjust to whatever the market subjects them to. I remember how people put all their confidence in the $6000 mark because miners according to them needed it to break even.

The price didn't care about their operations and it corrected with 50% to $3000. The hashrate won't miraculously exceed the level of profitability, because that's not how things work, economically speaking.

Hashrate drops aren't the end of the world. The difficulty will adjust itself and stabilize at the levels miners stop shutting down their machines, and currently that seems to be the case.