Bitcoin mining saw a profitability increase of 2% during July, according to a research note released Friday by investment firm Jefferies. This rise coincided with a 7% surge in the price of Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency, and a 5% increase in the network’s hashrate.
“The upward movement in BTC pricing is beneficial for Galaxy’s (GLXY) digital asset operations. However, miners face the challenge of a growing network hashrate,” explained analyst Jonathan Petersen.
Hashrate, measured in exahashes per second (EH/s), signifies the total computing horsepower dedicated to Bitcoin mining and transaction validation on its proof-of-work blockchain. It serves as an indicator of competition and mining difficulty within the sector.
The report also revealed that publicly traded U.S. mining companies collectively mined 3,622 Bitcoin in July, up from 3,379 the previous month. These entities accounted for 26% of the total network output, compared to 25% in June.
IREN (IREN) led the pack, having mined 728 Bitcoin, followed closely by MARA Holdings (MARA) with 703 BTC, as highlighted by Jefferies.
Jefferies further stated that MARA maintains the largest energized hashrate in the mining space, registering 58.9 EH/s at July’s end, while CleanSpark (CLSK) occupied the second position with 50 EH/s.
Revenue generated per exahash/second also showed improvement. The analyst noted, “A hypothetical mining operation with one EH/s capacity would have generated approximately $57,000 in daily revenue during July. This is an increase from around $56,000 in June and about $50,000 a year prior.”
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