A new week closes in the busy world of cryptocurrencies. The conditions represent a notable trend towards volatility, and the first effects of the halving are already being felt.
This past week, earnings season was remarkably active for mining firms. The network’s hashrate is already experiencing a perceptible decline that could become more complicated in the coming days. The shares of companies in the sector on the stock market show a strong selling inclination. In short, investors remain cautious in the face of a situation that could cause new setbacks.
Bitcoin Hashrate Retracement: Deeper Drop Expected
This week, the hash power retreat, one of the most expected consequences of the halving in the short term. This is because the cut causes thousands of teams to become unproductive, which leads companies to massively disconnect older machines, leading to a rapid decline in computing power.
The capitulation of the miners is a fact that represents the reorganization of the sector for the next four years. After reaching highs of almost 700 EH/s (without touching that barrier) the global hashrate is located at 594 EH/s.
It is expected that this downward trend in the hashrate will intensify in the coming days. Likewise, it should be noted that this trend is temporary and that the arrival of new batches of equipment will cause recovery.
Marathon Digital Increases Its Bitcoin Production by 21% YoY
This week, major American companies such as Marathon Digital, released their respective quarterly earnings reports. The report points out that the reason for the increase was the equivalent increase in the company’s hash power during recent months. Currently, the company’s computing power amounts to more than 21 EH/s.
Elizabeth Warren Warns on the Dangers of Digital Mining in Iran
Elizabeth Warren, the US senator who most militates against the mining sector, ventured beyond US borders on this occasion.
In that sense, she pointed to what she describes as “great dangers” of digital mining in Iran. Together with Senator Angus King, he sent a letter to various federal institutions such as the Treasury and Defense departments, warning that mining was helping the Persian country evade sanctions.
On other occasions, politicians have expressed concern about Tehran’s record in money laundering and the role of Bitcoin in committing various crimes.
Bitfarms Profits Plunge After Halving
The company, of Argentine origin, showed its numbers and highlighted the drop in production after the halving. As expected, this decline is not exclusive to this company, but is a generalized factor.
According to the company’s update, April was the month with the lowest production in the last two years. Until now, the company has injected about $240 million dollars into the purchase of equipment to improve its production and balance the losses represented by the halving.
One of the positive aspects that the firm highlighted is the increase in its use of clean energy by 9%, which translates into a new contribution of 31 watts per terahash.
Riot Platforms Misses Estimates in Q1
Riot Platforms is one of the giants in the sector, and unfortunately, it did not meet Wall Street estimates.
In their first quarter report, they announced the entry of $211.8 million dollars, which represents an increase of 1,000% year-on-year. Despite this impressive increase, production revenues fell short of Wall Street analysts’ estimates.
The increase in the company’s revenue and profits was related to the good performance of the Bitcoin price. On the other hand, it should be noted that this is one of the largest players in the crypto market and its pending batches are made up of thousands of new ASICs. This means that the increase in production will be notable in the future.
By Audy Castaneda
