According to Cointelegraph: On August 11, Bitcoin miners recorded their lowest daily revenue levels in 2024, underscoring the significant profit squeeze many are experiencing. However, the Hash Ribbons indicator, which tracks miner difficulty and financial health through 30-day and 60-day moving averages, now suggests that the phase of miner capitulation might be coming to an end, according to CryptoQuant data.
The Hash Ribbons indicator traditionally signals the end of miner capitulation when the 30-day moving average crosses above the 60-day moving average. This crossover often coincides with a bottom in Bitcoin's price, signalling a potential buying opportunity for investors looking to time their market entry and capitalize on lower prices.
Bitcoin Mining Difficulty and Its Impact on Miners
On August 1, Bitcoin's mining difficulty reached a record high of 90.66 trillion, reflecting the intense computational power required to mine Bitcoin. Although this difficulty has since adjusted slightly to 86.8 trillion, it remains significantly higher than historical levels, further squeezing miner profit margins. This was evident as the miner hashprice— a measure of profitability—fell to record lows of under $36 per petahash per second (PH/s) before rebounding to around $40 PH/s, still alarmingly close to historic lows.
Miners Diversifying into High-Powered Computing Services
As profit margins continue to shrink due to rising computational power demands and reduced block rewards post-halving, many Bitcoin miners are diversifying their operations. A growing trend among miners is to pivot towards high-powered computing services, including artificial intelligence (AI) data centers.
For example, in July, TeraWulf, a Bitcoin mining company, announced its expansion into high-performance computing and AI data centers. The company is developing a new facility at its Lake Mariner site, dedicating 2 megawatts of power to this venture, marking its initial steps into offering data center services.
