Bitcoin (BTC) mining revenue hits year-to-date low in September

Bitcoin (BTC) mining competition is becoming increasingly fierce, but miners' income is gradually declining. In particular, in September, miners' income fell to the lowest level since 2024, highlighting the new challenges brought by the halving.

Decline in miners' income and market impact

In September, Bitcoin miners received a total of about $816 million in block rewards, while transaction fees also fell sharply. Although the increase in transaction premiums in April pushed miners' income to a peak of $1.7 billion, this momentum is now difficult to maintain.

This wave of revenue decline has been particularly evident in corporate mining companies in the United States. Although Core Scientific, one of the industry leaders, has seen an increase in stock performance, its third-quarter financial data has not yet been released. In the past year, Core Scientific's revenue reached $570 million, leading other companies. However, Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA) still had higher retained earnings last year, reaching $450 million. Meanwhile, Marathon and Hut 8 have some of the highest operating margins in the industry.

Compared to more active chains like Ethereum and Solana, Bitcoin's Rune fees account for only 14% of total transaction fees, with the remaining 85% still contributed by regular exchanges. Despite attempts at innovation, the Bitcoin network appears to be having challenges keeping users active.

Hash rate fluctuations and mining difficulty adjustments

In September, while mining activity remained near all-time highs, some hash rates were shut down, and the network's overall hash rate dropped from 756 EH/s to 636 EH/s, a 26% drop in four weeks. Some miners chose to move to Bitcoin Cash (BCH) because occasional mining on BCH can be more profitable. Bitcoin Cash's hash rate fluctuates more, but it provides a temporary outlet for some idle mining pools' mining capacity.