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bitcoin mining companies generated their highest monthly revenue in March, collecting more than $2 billion in block rewards and transaction fees.
This breaks the previous record of $1.74 billion set in May 2021.
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ONLY IN: twitter.com/hashtag/bitcoin?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#bitcoin Miners reached a record $2 billion in monthly revenue, the highest in their history.
Halving will arrive in 2 weeks
– bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) twitter.com/BitcoinMagazine/status/1775089023435882736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>April 2, 2024
Of the $2 billion earned last month, around $85 million came from transaction fees, while $1.93 billion came from the block subsidy. (Miners receive compensation for both validating transactions and minting new bitcoins.)
The block subsidy, which is paid for each block mined, is currently 6.25 bitcoins. But it will fall to 3,125 bitcoins after the next halving event in April. This will halve miners' income from creating new bitcoins, unless there is a significant price increase.
Increased network activity and rising bitcoin prices contributed to miners' excellent earnings in March. The upcoming halving created urgency for miners to maximize their profits before they were reduced.
Leading US mining group Foundry captured 29.4% of all mined blocks in March. The Chinese group AntPool took second place with 22.4% of the blocks. The two captured more than half of bitcoin's monthly supply.
While miners enjoyed their profit bonanza last month, exchange-traded funds that bought bitcoin on the open market racked up even more. ETFs bought about 66,000 bitcoins in March, while miners only produced about 25,500.
This growing supply-demand imbalance and halving-related shortages could spur greater competition to secure bitcoin. The resulting difficulty increases may begin to price out less efficient miners, spurring industry consolidation.
With the halving cutting rewards in half in a matter of weeks, miners face an increasingly harsh environment if the price of bitcoin fails to offset the drop in issuance. But if history repeats itself, a strong bitcoin bull run could still be on the horizon, softening the revenue impact of reduced block subsidies.
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