Core Scientific, Riot and CleanSpark led the rise in Bitcoin production in January thanks to better weather conditions and stable electricity prices.
First 2023 production update of publicly traded Bitcoin
BTC
stocks down
$23,400
According to a new analysis of the Hashrate Index, miners are showing a steady increase in hashrate and BTC production month-on-month.
Most public miners increased their Bitcoin production in January, with CleanSpark increasing that production by 50%, achieving a record monthly production of 697 Bitcoins. Leader in BTC production, Core Scientific reached 1,527 coins mined in January, followed by Riot, the second largest producer, which mined 740 Bitcoins during the month.
Marathon and Cipher have seen a significant increase in Bitcoin production, reaching 687 and 343 Bitcoins created, respectively, compared to 475 and 225 in December.
According to Bitcoin mining analyst Jaran Mellerud, better weather conditions in January and stable electricity prices helped miners increase production. “In December, a winter storm swept across the North American continent and caused electricity prices to spike, forcing many of these companies to shut down operations periodically. With more pleasant weather in January, electricity prices ‘electricity are stable and miners can achieve higher uptime.’
Hash rate increased for most public miners in January, but at a slower rate than expected. The exception is Texas-based Cipher, which has increased its hash rate by more than 50%, to 4.3 EH/s. “Cipher has been building a lot in this bear market and I expect the company to reach its goal of 6 EH/s of automining capacity by the end of Q1 2023,” Mellerud wrote.
CleanSpark also increased its hash rate to 6.6 EH/s from 6.2 EH/s in December, following a series of acquisitions in late 2022. Hive also reported growth in January, with a Hash rate increased by almost 30%, from 2.1 to 2.7. H/S Mellerud said of Hive: “The company continues to replace its fleet of GPUs with ASICs, primarily with in-house designed Buzzminers.
Core Science also continued to increase its hash rate, reaching 17 EH/s in January from 15.7 in December. However, the numbers are expected to be affected by the company’s bankruptcy proceedings, including an agreement with the New York Digital Investment Corporation (NYDIG) to settle $38.6 million in outstanding debt to deliver more than 27,000 mining machines to be used as collateral, representing 18% of the Core Science platform.
Core Scientific filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on December 21, seeking to reorganize its debts after months of financial difficulties due to rising electricity costs and low Bitcoin prices.
Mellerud also points out that “in some cases, these companies have extended the delivery time to their high hashrate scaling goals. Most of them plan to dramatically increase their active hashrate by the end of the second quarter of this year. At the current rate, most of them will probably have to push their expansion plans in the future.”
