Bitcoin Miners’ September Earnings Hit 2024 Low Amid $650M Operating Costs

Bitcoin miners experienced their toughest month of 2024 in September, with total earnings hitting $815.7 million, marking their lowest monthly revenue of the year. This represented a $35.66 million decline from August’s total of $851.36 million, a 4% drop. Out of this total, $801.84 million was earned from Bitcoin’s 3.125 BTC block reward subsidy.

Fee earnings were also at their weakest, with miners gathering only $13.86 million throughout September. Despite lower revenues, hashprice – the daily expected value of 1 petahash per second (PH/s) of Bitcoin’s hashpower – saw a modest increase, starting the month at $41.38 per PH/s and rising to $45.95 per PH/s by the end of September.

Considering operational expenses like electricity, cooling, maintenance, and hardware depreciation, the total monthly cost of mining is estimated between $600 million to $650 million industry-wide, depending on regional electricity prices and mining efficiency. With this in mind, September’s revenue of $815.7 million suggests miners collectively made a net profit of roughly $165 million to $215 million for the month.

As October unfolds, miners are looking forward to a more favorable period. Historically known as “Uptober,” October has been a profitable month for Bitcoin, delivering positive returns 82% of the time since 2013. With BTC showing a 7.3% return in September, many anticipate a more lucrative month ahead.