Bitcoin is generating a daily profit of USD 34 million for the mining industry. An Antminer S9 can now cost more than USD 90, but previously it was not worth more than USD 15.
After becoming scrap metal along with other Bitcoin miners that became unprofitable in 2020, Bitmain’s Antminer S9 has resurfaced in 2021. The miracle has occurred in China, where miners from all over the territory are looking for second-hand equipment to take advantage of the bullish rally.
Calculations from Chinese mining pools indicate that the Bitcoin network is currently issuing more than 900 BTC daily and generating commission income of 109 BTC for miners. This suggests the entire Bitcoin mining industry could be making profits that exceed USD 34 million per day. The bullish rally of the cryptocurrency, which now exceeds USD 35,000, has made it possible to reach that amount.
Bitcoin’s bullish market presents a profit opportunity, which is why miners in China have started buying second-hand ASICs to accumulate more processing power. MicroBT’s M30S++ and M30S devices and Bitmain’s Antminer S19 Pro are currently the most popular and efficient on the market. However, Bitmain’s S9 miners have returned to the profitability of the past and are therefore highly valued items.
After the third Bitcoin halving occurred, Antminer S9’s usefulness seemed to have ended in mid-2020. As a consequence of the reduction of the reward per block mined by half, the increasingly high mining difficulty, and the incorporation of state-of-the-art mining equipment, Antminer S9 was operating at a loss, and many farms replaced it with better-performing miners.
This situation made people forget the S9 miner, one of Bitmain’s popular flagship products of recent years. A few months ago, Antminer S9 cost less than USD 15 in China, but its new boom in popularity has led each of these miners to cost more than USD 90. This value is well below the most modern miners, which exceed USD 4,000 per unit. However, data from the Hashrate Index suggests that it is a global trend and that one of these devices may be worth more than USD 100 USD in January 2021. BTC.com founder Jian Zhuoer confirmed that it is possible to find offers of nearly 100,000 S9 miners ready for deployment on platforms like Weibo. This news confirms that there is an increasingly marked demand for this equipment, even though the rainy season has not yet started in China. Increased installation of mining equipment on farms characterizes this period. Electricity costs decrease considerably since the source of energy that miners use is hydroelectric, and there is a surplus of energy.
Bitcoin Miners are After Profits
Machines like M30S++ and Antminer S19 Pro are the most efficient to do mining work when comparing the profits that S9 miners generate and the latest generation equipment.
The price of Bitcoin is increasingly high, which indicates that even a small profit can seduce its participants. According to local Chinese sources, an S9 miner generates around USD 2 per day. However, machines like M30S++ produce USD 23 since they are the most powerful miners on the market.
The S9 miner continues to operate at a loss, but it is necessary to consider that China is one of the territories with the cheapest electricity rates, according to the ASIC Miner Value website. The price of the cryptocurrency is not the only factor that influences the profitability of a device. This also depends on the cost of the facilities, the cooling of the equipment, the electricity rates, and the maintenance of the place.
This market behavior leads to say that Bitcoin mining is experiencing a positive moment and that the price rise could motivate new miners to connect. According to Blockchain.com, the network’s hash rate is at an all-time high, recently recording 148 TH/s. The increase in hash rate has been constant since November 2020, when it had also reached an all-time high of 146 TH/s, never seen before. According to these metrics, a growing number of machines are connecting to the Bitcoin network since the hash rate would indicate the processing power that the network currently has. Similarly, it is necessary to consider that an increasing number of farms are buying state-of-the-art mining equipment, which will take the hash rate of Bitcoin to unprecedented levels.
By Alexander Salazar
