Public miners increased Bitcoin production, hash rate in January

In January, Core Scientific, Riot, and CleanSpark led the way in increasing Bitcoin production, aided by better weather and stable electricity prices.

According to a new Hashrate Index analysis, the first production update of 2023 from publicly traded Bitcoin mining companies shows a steady increase in hash rate and a surge in BTC production compared to the previous month.

The majority of public miners increased bitcoin production in January, with CleanSpark increasing it by 50% to a monthly production record of 697 Bitcoins. Core Scientific mined 1,527 Bitcoins in January, followed by Riot, the second-largest producer, which mined 740 Bitcoins in the month.

Marathon and Cipher saw significant increases in Bitcoin production, with 687 and 343 Bitcoins generated, respectively, up from 475 and 225 in December.

Monthly Bitcoin Production by Public Miners. Hashrate Index and Luxor are the sources.

Better weather conditions and stable electricity prices, according to Bitcoin mining analyst Jaran Mellerud, aided miners in increasing output in January.

“A winter storm swept across North America in December, causing electricity prices to skyrocket, forcing many of these businesses to curtail operations on a regular basis. With the weather being more cooperative in January, electricity prices stabilized, allowing miners to achieve higher uptime.”

Most public miners’ hash rate increased in January, but at a slower rate than expected. The Texas-based Cipher, on the other hand, increased its hash rate by more than 50%, to 4.3 EH/s. “During this bear market, Cipher has been hard at work, and I expect the company to reach its hashrate goal of 6 EH/s of self-mining capacity by the end of Q1 2023,” Mellerud said.

Following a series of acquisitions in late 2022, CleanSpark increased its hash rate to 6.6 EH/s from 6.2 EH/s in December. Hive also increased its hash rate by nearly 30% in January, rising from 2.1 to 2.7 EH/s. “The company continues to replace its GPU fleet with ASICs, primarily with its in-house designed Buzzminers,” Hive performance was commented on.

Self-Mining Hashrate for Public Miners. Source: Hashrate Index, and Luxor Core Scientific increased its hash rate to 17 EH/s in January, up from 15.7 in December. The figures, however, are expected to be influenced by the company’s bankruptcy proceedings, which include a deal with the New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG) to pay off a $38.6 million debt by handing over more than 27,000 mining machines used as collateral – accounting for 18% of Core Scientific rigs.

Core Scientific declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy on December 21, seeking to restructure its debts after months of financial distress due to rising electricity costs and low Bitcoin prices.

Mellerud also stated that “These companies have extended the timeline for their lofty hashrate expansion goals on several occasions. The majority of them intend to significantly increase their operating hashrate by the end of the second quarter of this year. At this rate, most of them will have to postpone their expansion plans for the foreseeable future.