Cryptoverse: Bitcoin miners make money ahead of 'halving'
Bitcoin miners are making hay while the sun shines.
The business has been yanked out of the doldrums by the cryptocurrency's recent rally — and now mining companies are racing to lock in profits before bitcoin's «halving», when rewards for producing the tokens are cut in half.
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Offering CollegeCourseWebsiteIIM LucknowIIML Executive Programme in FinTech, Banking & Applied Risk ManagementVisitIndian School of BusinessISB Professional Certificate in Product ManagementVisitIIT DelhiIITD Certificate Programme in Data Science & Machine LearningVisit The next halving is expected in April 2024, a process designed to slow the release of bitcoin, whose supply is capped at 21 million — of which 19 million have already been mined.
«You're seeing a lot of urgency to plug rigs in ahead of the halving,» said Gregory Lewis, analyst at brokerage BTIG that covers the 13 biggest U.S.-listed bitcoin miners.
Bitcoin's hashrate — a measure of the computational power needed to mine a coin — has spiked to an all-time high, according to crypto platform Blockchain.com. That means miners are having to use more and more power and speed to crack the complex maths puzzles that earn them a bitcoin.
Analysts at J.P. Morgan estimate the hashrate has hit record highs for 11 consecutive months, including a historic surge in October.
Playing the game
Bitcoin has risen about 37% in the past month to around $37,000 after months of listlessness, a rebound that's encouraged miners to hook up their powerful computers to crack the puzzles and sell newly minted coins.
The 30-day average of revenue earned by miners has improved steadily this year to hit a 18-month at $32.46 million on Nov. 11,
