Public bitcoin miners sold 115% of their production in April, driving hashprice below bitcoin's new all-time high

The firm’s latest research report reveals that public miners sold 115% of their bitcoin production in April — meaning they sold more than they produced.

The public bitcoin miners sold 115% of their production in April, the highest ratio since the last bear market in late 2022, according to latest research by investment bank Jefferies.

The firm’s latest research report reveals that the miners’ hashprice (what miners earn per unit of computational power) has failed to keep pace with bitcoin’s ascent to a new all-time high above $109,000 on Tuesday. It stands at just $55 per petahash per second (PH/s), lower than the $63/PH/s level it briefly reached the last time bitcoin crossed $100,000 in December. This is due to a combination of elevated network difficulty and weak transaction fees, which have kept revenues in check.

The top players in the mining space are expanding despite the weak profitability. CleanSpark (CLSK) has reportedly surpassed 40 EH/s in hashrate, and IREN (IREN), which recently outpaced Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:RIOT) to become the third largest public miner in terms of realized hashrate, saw a 25% increase in hash power and is aiming for 50 EH/s by June. Cogo (NYSE:COGO) is also set to add 18 EH/s by July.

MARA Holdings (NASDAQ:MARA) still has the highest installed hashrate at 57.3 EH/s, as per Jefferies’ calculations. The investment bank's analysis, which takes into account hashrate, energy consumption, and operational efficiency, also found that IREN had the highest implied uptime at around 97%, followed by HIVE Digital Technologies (NASDAQ:HIVE) at about 96%.

Moreover, a change is underway in how miners are securing new hardware. Several public firms have signed agreements with Bitmain that allow them to pay for mining rigs in bitcoin and retain the right to repurchase their coins at a predetermined price—an interesting hedge against further price increases.

The battered mining stocks have shown signs of recovery, with some names like Northern Star and Evolution bouncing back more than 60% in April alone. However, most remain in negative year-to-date territory, with only CleanSpark and MARA Holdings currently trading above their year-beginning levels.