According to CoinDesk, Bitcoin mining was more profitable in February than in January, as the cryptocurrency's price rose 15% while the network hashrate increased at a slower rate of 9%, according to a research report by investment bank Jefferies. Publicly listed North American mining companies produced a smaller share of bitcoin compared with the previous month, slipping to 17.5% of the total network from 19%, as new hashrate came online from other sources. The network hashrate has nearly doubled from a year ago, but publicly traded miners have lost market share, analysts Jonathan Petersen and Amanda Santillo wrote.
Marathon Digital (MARA) had previously used third-party providers to host its machines rather than building its own infrastructure, but the company has changed strategy and is buying out some of the hosting services, a defensive move ahead of the halving, which Jefferies supports. The bank maintained its hold rating on Marathon Digital shares and cut its price target to $24 from $30. It increased its price target on hold-rated Argo Blockchain (ARBK) to $1.50 from $1.20 to reflect the higher bitcoin price. The bank said that with less capex dedicated to mining facility development, ARBK should have cash to buy additional miners and increase hashrate more quickly.