 Bitcoin hashrate taps all-time high 
2025-01-03
Category: None

Bitcoin’s hashrate — the total computing power securing the Bitcoin network — reached a new all-time high on Jan. 3 of over 1,000 exahashes per second (EH/s), according to data from CoinWarz. 
That is nearly double the network’s hashrate 12 months ago. According to CoinWarz, Bitcoin’s hashrate hovered around 510 EH/s in January 2024. At the time of this article’s publication, Bitcoin’s hashrate had retraced to approximately 780 EH/s. 
The network’s rising hashrate indicates Bitcoin miners are devoting more computational resources to the blockchain, thus improving the network’s security. 
Miners are continuing to expand production even after Bitcoin’s BTCUSD April halving reduced mining rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC per block.
Overcoming headwinds
In 2024, Bitcoin’s strong performance partially offset headwinds from the halving, especially for cash-heavy mining companies like Riot Platforms and CleanSpark. 
Mining firms “acquired other miners with turn-key facilities to increase near-term hashrate and increase their power pipeline,” JPMorgan said in a Dec. 10 research note shared with Cointelegraph. 
Miners have also prioritized accumulating BTC on balance sheets. In December, JPMorgan raised price targets for four Bitcoin mining stocks to reflect value from the miners’ electrical power assets and BTC holdings, JPMorgan said.
JPMorgan cited the stock performance of MicroStrategy, a software company turned de facto Bitcoin fund, which traded at a roughly 2.4x multiple to the value of its BTC treasury as of Dec. 10. 
Bitcoin miners, including Marathon, Riot and CleanSpark, hold BTC treasuries worth approximately $4.4 billion, $1.7 billion and $910 million, respectively, according to the BitcoinTreasuries.net data service.
Institutional inflows
Bitcoin’s rising hashrate — and the resultant improvement in network security — is especially important as institutional investors pour capital into BTC exchange-traded funds and other regulated cryptocurrency investment vehicles.
In November, Bitcoin ETFs broke $100 billion in net assets for the first time, according to data from Bloomberg Intelligence.
Asset manager Sygnum expects this dynamic to accelerate in 2025 as large institutional investors, including sovereign wealth funds, endowments, and pension funds, add Bitcoin allocations.
“With improving US regulatory clarity and the potential for Bitcoin to be recognized as a central bank reserve asset, 2025 could mark steep acceleration for institutional participation in crypto assets,” Martin Burgherr, Sygnum’s chief clients officer, said in a statement.