JPMorgan reports that Bitcoin miners linked to HPC experienced poor performance in the first half of April.

JPMorgan: Bitcoin Miners With HPC Exposure Struggle, MARA and CleanSpark Lead Performance

Bitcoin mining stocks had a mixed performance during the first two weeks of April, with miners solely focused on Bitcoin, like MARA Holdings (MARA) and CleanSpark (CLSK), outperforming those with significant exposure to high-performance computing (HPC), according to a new report from JPMorgan.

While MARA and CleanSpark managed to surpass Bitcoin’s (BTC) performance, other miners with HPC exposure, including Bitdeer (BTDR), TeraWulf (WULF), IREN (IREN), and Riot Platforms (RIOT), underperformed during the same period. HPC, which is used in sectors like artificial intelligence, adds an additional layer of complexity to mining operations, which may have contributed to these underperformance results.

JPMorgan highlighted that March was a favorable month for U.S.-listed bitcoin miners, who expanded their mining capacity by 15 exahashes per second (EH/s) and increased the number of tokens mined. However, the first half of April saw a slowdown, with the bank noting that network hashrate growth outpaced the expansion of U.S. operators. Additionally, the average price of Bitcoin declined, negatively affecting mining economics.

“Network hashrate growth has outstripped U.S. operator expansion, and the Bitcoin price drop in April’s early days has put pressure on mining margins,” said analysts Reginald Smith and Charles Pearce.

JPMorgan also reported that U.S.-listed miners are currently trading at 1.2 times their proportional share of the four-year block reward opportunity, marking the lowest level seen in over two years.

In terms of earnings, miners generated approximately $41,500 in daily block reward revenue per EH/s in the first half of April, reflecting a 12% decline from March. The report also revealed that the network hashrate has grown by 85 EH/s this month, reaching an average of 900 EH/s. This growth in hashrate signals increased competition and higher mining difficulty.

The total market capitalization of the 13 U.S.-listed bitcoin miners tracked by JPMorgan fell by 2%, dropping to $16.9 billion in April.