According to CoinDesk, investment bank Jefferies said in a research report on Thursday (15th) that Bitcoin miners’ mining profits fell slightly in July compared with the previous month. This is because the price of Bitcoin fell by more than 6%, while the network’s computing power remained stable. The investment bank also cut its price target on major mining company Marathon Digital.

Jefferies lowered its price target on Marathon Digital stock (ticker MARA) to $17 from $22 while maintaining a Hold rating on the stock. MARA fell about 4% in intraday trading Wednesday, closing at $15.14.

Jefferies’ report noted that U.S. listed mining companies produced a higher share of Bitcoin in July than in June, accounting for 21.1% of the entire network and up from 20.7% in May. The report adds that August will be an even tougher month for miners, as Bitcoin prices have fallen by about 5% and the network's hash rate has begun to grow again. Bitcoin computing power can be used to measure the level of competition in the industry and the difficulty of mining.

Analysts Jonathan Petersen and Joe Dickstein wrote that their market share has increased as "public players add new capacity faster than the network's hashrate grows."

Jefferies’ report noted that Marathon Digital produced the most Bitcoins in July, with a total of 692, a 17% increase from the previous month. The miner’s installed hashrate also remains the largest in the industry.

Continue to accumulate Bitcoin

Marathon announced the completion of a $300 million convertible senior debt issuance on Wednesday and said it had used the net proceeds from the issuance to purchase approximately 4,144 Bitcoins between August 12 and August 14, worth approximately $249 million, with an average purchase price of Approximately $59,500. Marathon also plans to use remaining net proceeds from the bond offering to acquire additional Bitcoin and for general corporate purposes.

Marathon announced last month that it would adopt a "HODL" strategy for its Bitcoin financial policy, retaining all Bitcoin mined in its operations and making regular strategic open market purchases.

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