Bitcoin Miners Face Tight Margins Even as Competition Drops, According to JPMorgan

Bitcoin miners saw a second straight month of declining network hashrate in December, according to a report from JPMorgan (JPM) released Monday.

Analysts Reginald Smith and Charles Pearce said the monthly average hashrate, a measure of total computational power and mining competition, fell 30 EH/s, or 3% month-over-month, to 1,045 EH/s.

Despite the easing in competition, mining profitability continued to slip. JPMorgan estimated miners earned $38,700 per EH/s in daily block reward revenue last month, down 7% from November and 32% year-over-year — the lowest level recorded. Daily block reward gross profit also declined 9% to $17,100 per EH/s.

While the report did not detail the causes, analysts pointed to lower bitcoin prices since October, the recent halving, and rising energy costs as key pressures on margins.

Not all metrics were negative. The combined market capitalization of 14 U.S.-listed bitcoin miners and data center operators tracked by JPMorgan rose 73% for 2025 to $48 billion. Hut 8 (HUT) led last month with a 2% gain, while CleanSpark (CLSK) fell 33%. Over the year, nine of the 14 companies outperformed bitcoin, led by IREN (IREN) and Cipher Mining (CIFR).