The bitcoin network’s hash rate hit an all-time high in October, JPMorgan ( JPM ) said in a report Monday.
The monthly average network hash rate increased 5% to 1,082 exahashes per second (EH/s), the report said.
The hashrate refers to the total combined computational power used to mine and process transactions on a proof-of-work blockchain, and is a proxy for industry competition and mining difficulty.
At the end of last month, “mining difficulty was 3% higher than at the end of September, and 80% higher than difficulty heading into the most recent halving,” analysts Reginald Smith and Charles Pearce wrote. The halving, when the reward for adding a block to the blockchain is cut by 50%, took place in April 2024.
Mining economics were under pressure for the third straight month, the report noted.
The bank’s analysts estimated that miners earned an average of $48,000 per month. EH/si daily block reward revenue in October, 3% less than in September. Daily block reward, gross profit decreased 4%.
The combined market capitalization of the 14 U.S. publicly traded mining companies the bank tracks rose $14 billion, or 25%, to $70 billion last month. The move was driven by high-performance computing (HPC) announcements and enthusiasm about the sector’s pivot to AI.
Ciper Mining ( CIFR ) outperformed the group, up 48% last month, and Cango ( CANG ) underperformed, down 5%, the analysts said. It was the only miner covered to underperform bitcoin, which fell 3.9%.
Read more: Bitcoin Miners Sit on Prime Power Assets as AI Pivot Accelerates: Canaccord
