According to Hashrate Index data, despite Bitcoin's increase of over 113% this year, most mining stocks have performed poorly, showing a clear downward trend for 2024. Among the 25 listed mining companies, only 7 achieved positive returns this year, including Core Scientific (CORZQ) up 327%, TeraWulf (WULF) up 169%, Bitdeer (BTDR) up 167%, Hut 8 (HUT) up 91%, Iris Energy (IREN) up 72%, Northern Data (NB2) up 58%, and Cipher (CIFR) up 33%. In contrast, Argo Blockchain (ARB) saw a decline of up to 84%, and Hive (HIVE) fell by 29%. Although mining companies are actively diversifying their businesses through financing and entering AI to offset the pressure from halving on earnings, they still face challenges such as increased mining difficulty and soaring operational costs, with some companies reporting mining costs of over $50,000 per BTC. (Cointelegraph)