After the 2024 halving, Bitcoin mining enters its fifth epoch

This forced miners to rethink their operations, optimize efficiency, cut energy costs and upgrade hardware to remain profitable.

After the 2024 halving, Bitcoin (BTC) mining entered its fifth epoch and block rewards were reduced from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. As a result, miners were forced to rethink their operations, focusing on cutting energy costs and upgrading hardware to remain profitable.

Cointelegraph Research, with insights from industry experts at Uminers, examines this transformation in its latest report. The analysis covers ASIC efficiency improvements, corporate performance, geographical expansion and new revenue models.

As miners adapt, Bitcoin moves into a new era where institutional momentum and sovereign adoption could redefine its role in the global financial system.

The mining industry’s response to rising hashrate and shrinking margins

Despite the adverse financial impact of the halving, Bitcoin’s network hashrate has continued to climb.

As of May 1, 2025, the total computational power of the network reached 831 EH/s. Earlier in the month, hashrate peaked at 921 EH/s, marking a 77% increase from the 2024 low of 519 EH/s.

This rapid recovery underscores the industry’s relentless drive for efficiency as larger mining firms reinvest in fleet upgrades and energy optimization to maintain profitability.

The mining arms race has always revolved around power efficiency. With energy costs rising, the latest ASIC models from Bitmain, MicroBT and Canaan are further optimizing the energy required per hash. Bitmain’s Antminer S21+ delivers 216 TH/s at 16.5 J/TH, while MicroBT’s WhatsMiner M66S+ pushes immersion-cooled performance to 17 J/TH.

Meanwhile, semiconductor giants TSMC and Samsung are driving the next wave of innovation, with 3-nm chips already in use and 2-nm technology on the horizon.

Post-halving profitability: The global shift toward low-cost energy

Bitcoin mining profitability has tightened significantly post-halving. Hashprice, the daily revenue per terahash per second, dropped from $0.12 in April 2024 to about $0.049 by April 2025.

At the same time, network difficulty has surged to an all-time high of 123T, making it harder for miners to generate returns. To stay competitive, operations must extract maximum value from every watt of power consumed.

This shift has intensified the search for cheap, reliable power, driving mining expansion into regions where energy costs remain low.

Electricity pricing now dictates mining profitability. In Oman, licensed miners benefit from government-backed subsidies, securing electricity at $0.05–$0.07 per kWh, while in the UAE, semi-governmental projects operate at even lower rates of $0.035–$0.045 per kWh.

These incentives have turned the region into a prime destination for institutional-scale mining. Meanwhile, in the US, where industrial power costs often exceed $0.1 per kWh, miners face shrinking margins, forcing a migration toward more cost-efficient locations.

Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia have emerged as key battlegrounds in this race, offering the energy arbitrage opportunities miners need to survive.

What’s next for Bitcoin mining?

The 2024 halving has reinforced a hard truth: Efficiency is no longer optional; it’s a necessity. The industry is shifting toward leaner, more optimized operations, where only the most power-efficient miners can thrive.

The rise of AI computing, global regulatory shifts and ongoing hardware advancements will continue to shape the sector over the next 12–18 months.

Cointelegraph Research’s Bitcoin mining report: Post-halving insights and trends offers a data-driven breakdown of the key forces shaping mining profitability, infrastructure investments, and strategic decision-making.

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