Bitcoin Mining Revenue Rises as Public Firms Reap Sizable Stock Gains: JP Morgan

From decrypt by André Beganski

As the price of  Bitcoin  swelled  past $99,500  last month, some publicly traded Bitcoin miners saw their stock prices soar, according to a research note released by JP Morgan Monday.

The collective market capitalization of 14 Bitcoin miners tracked by JP Morgan increased a “staggering” 52% month-over-month to $36.2 billion, the note stated. Among November’s best performers, analysts noted that Singapore-based Bitdeer’s stock surged 83% to $14.27 during the period.

This year, Bitcoin miners have faced notable headwinds alongside  Bitcoin’s fourth halving . The pre-programmed, quadrennial event, which reduced Bitcoin’s per-block reward to 3.125 BTC (about $299,000 worth as of this writing) in April, has tested the efficiency of firms’ mining fleets, as their margins have been  stretched thin .

According to JP Morgan analysts, mining revenues have declined 50% following April’s halving, as Bitcoin’s per-block rewards were slashed from 6.25 BTC (about $598,000 worth today). While still comparatively low, analysts wrote that Bitcoin’s rising price—currently about $95,680—made it more lucrative to mine Bitcoin in November.

Looking broadly at miners’ daily revenue in Bitcoin based on one exahash of mining capacity, revenue increased 24% in November to $52,000 from around $42,000 in October. Also referred to as EH, exahash represents a unit of measurement capturing the speed at which Bitcoin miners are  guessing a random number  needed to earn Bitcoin’s next block reward.

Last month, Bitdeer disclosed a $50 million loss in the third quarter,  citing  the halving’s impact on its bottom line. At the same time, the company said it made “substantial progress” on commercializing its line of Bitcoin mining chips set to compete with  Bitmain’s popular products .

By November’s end, Bitcoin’s price increased to $97,000 following Donald Trump’s election win, notching 132% in gains year-to-date. However, the report stated that the only Bitcoin miner to outpace Bitcoin in terms of stock price gains was TeraWulf, with its stock price increasing 229% to $7.89 so far this year.

TeraWulf’s was able to hold on to its industry-leading jump despite disappointing third-quarter earnings. The company  disclosed  a loss of $0.06 per share in the three-months ended September, coming in 75% below expectations of a $0.04 loss, per Google Finance.

Overall, publicly traded Bitcoin miners saw a post-election increase in stock price last month. Of the 14 firms tracked by JP Morgan, Argo Blockchain was the only miner to end November in the red, with its stock price falling 3% over the month to $1.08 on Friday.

Still, less than a handful of miners outpaced Bitcoin’s 39% climb in November, which represented the asset’s second best month this year in terms of gains, according to  CoinGlass  data. The JP Morgan report highlighted Bitdeer, Hut 8, MARA Holdings, and Iris Energy as four firms that were able to surpass Bitcoin’s gains during the period.

Notably, MARA Holdings increased its Bitcoin holdings in November, padding its lead as the second largest corporate holder of Bitcoin behind MicroStrategy. According to  Bitcoin Treasuries , the firm purchased around 7,200 BTC last month that’s currently worth $700 million.

With a market cap of $8.8 billion by November's end, MARA stood as the most valuable Bitcoin miner. And the company  announced  Monday that it had added onto its $3.3 billion Bitcoin stash, purchasing another 6,484 Bitcoin worth $618 million, as of this writing.