HIVE and MARA Mining Revenue Falls as Output Climbs
HIVE and MARA mining revenue fell in the September quarter even though both miners produced more bitcoin. Crypto Briefing and Cointelegraph via Cryptonews both report it. The cause is simple: a lower bitcoin price and higher power bills. Here is what that does to your margin.
HIVE and MARA mining revenue: the numbers
HIVE produced 1,070 BTC, up 49% from 718. Its mining revenue still fell 7.4% to $76 million. Electricity cost rose 20% to $45.6 million, and HIVE took a $31.2 million non-cash write-down on mining equipment, citing depressed mining economics. Crypto Briefing puts its average realized price at $71,003, against $114,382 a year earlier. HIVE also reported a quarterly loss, though the outlets give no figure.
MARA produced 2,247 BTC, up 5%. Coinotag and Cryptonews both say bitcoin mining revenue fell 34% to $159 million. Cryptonews adds that purchased energy costs rose 12% to $48.1 million. Total revenue fell 35% to $164.2 million. MARA still showed a big profit, but Crypto Briefing attributes that to an unrealized fair-value gain on its bitcoin, not to mining. These are company-reported figures.
Why HIVE and MARA mining revenue fell: the maths
Our arithmetic, not theirs: 1,070 BTC at $71,003 is about $76 million, which matches HIVE’s mining revenue. Its $45.6 million power bill is then roughly 60% of that revenue, before depreciation, staff or hosting. That is a thin margin. MARA’s purchased energy of $48.1 million is about 30% of its $159 million, but that covers only the power it buys itself.
Production growth is not a safety net
Moreover, the lesson is that production growth does not save you. The price fell about 38% for HIVE year on year. Output went up 49%. Revenue still fell.
What this does to your margin
Blunt answer: if the biggest public miners are writing down rigs and calling the economics depressed, a machine on 8 cents power is not safe either. Check the table. Anything near break-even loses money when price slips or difficulty rises.
Miner math: bitcoin hashprice today
Here is the live maths on November 10. Bitcoin is $74,634 and the network is 964 EH/s, so hashprice is about $35.06 per petahash per day. That is what one PH/s of hashing earns before power.
| Machine | 5c/kWh | 8c/kWh | 12c/kWh | Break-even |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antminer S19 (95 TH/s, 3250 W) | -$0.57 | -$2.91 | -$6.03 | 4.3c |
| Antminer S19k Pro (115 TH/s, 2645 W) | $0.86 | -$1.05 | -$3.59 | 6.4c |
| Antminer S19 XP (141 TH/s, 3010 W) | $1.33 | -$0.84 | -$3.72 | 6.8c |
| Antminer S21 Pro (234 TH/s, 3510 W) | $3.99 | $1.47 | -$1.90 | 9.7c |
Numbers are profit per day after electricity, at the three power prices shown. Break-even is the most you can pay per kilowatt-hour before the machine loses money. Specs are the manufacturer ratings; network data comes from mempool.space. Try your own power price in our free bitcoin mining profit calculator. See what these machines really sold for in our used ASIC miner price index. Want to run the same numbers on a machine you can buy today? See our used ASIC miners, or buy several at once through bulk lots.
If bitcoin slides another 10%: the break-even power price on an S19k Pro falls from 6.4 to 5.7 cents per kilowatt-hour. At 8 cents, daily profit goes from -$1.05 to -$1.45.
If network hashrate grows 5% as large miners keep adding machines: the break-even power price on an S19k Pro falls from 6.4 to 6.0 cents per kilowatt-hour. At 8 cents, daily profit goes from -$1.05 to -$1.24.
Those are “what ifs”, not forecasts. We think the split is clear. Cheap power and efficient machines still work. Older units on retail power are the ones being squeezed. See our mining economics guides.
If a machine no longer pays, you can sell us your used miners. To buy efficient units, see all miners.
-Nick
ING Mining
This is general information, not financial advice. Crypto is volatile, and exchanges can fail. Please do your own research.
How this story was made: drafted with the help of AI tools from public sources, then edited by Nick Squires. See our editorial policy. Spot an error? Email ns@ingmining.com.