Bitcoin Mining Revenue Holds Steady at $1.4B as Hashrate Growth Slows

Bitcoin mining revenue remained strong at $1.4 billion in January 2025, despite the network experiencing its first difficulty decline since September. The decrease in difficulty signals a slowdown in hashrate growth, attributed to the exit of smaller mining operators.

Public mining firms accounted for 30% of the network's hashrate, continuing to expand their hash power. However, their growth did not fully compensate for the reduced activity from smaller miners. These firms collectively hold 99,000 BTC, valued at $9.7 billion, as competition among top miners intensifies.

Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA) leads the industry with a hashrate of 41.65 EH/s, followed by CleanSpark (NASDAQ:CLSK) at 34.77 EH/s and Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:RIOT) at 31.27 EH/s. While these firms dominate, a gap is forming between them and the next tier, which includes Core Scientific, Cipher Mining (NASDAQ:CIFR), and Bitfarms.

The recent Bitcoin halving has further pressured miners, particularly smaller ones, by reducing block rewards. However, with Bitcoin's price hovering near $100,000, larger firms remain resilient despite tightening profit margins.

Mining hardware imports into the U.S. have slowed, with only select firms like Blockchain Power Corp and AcroHash bringing in substantial cooling systems from Bitmain. This decline in imports has contributed to the stabilization of hashrate growth.

TheMinerMag projects another difficulty drop in February, as struggling smaller miners continue to exit the market. The evolving landscape suggests that industry consolidation will favor large-scale mining firms in the face of rising competition and profitability challenges.