Heatwave Triggers Decline in Bitcoin Hashrate for June, JPMorgan Analysts Note

JPMorgan Notes 3% Decline in Bitcoin Hashrate in June Amid Heatwave Impacts on Miners

Bitcoin’s average network hashrate fell by around 3% in June, as detailed in a research note released Tuesday by JPMorgan (JPM).

The hashrate reflects the total computational power dedicated to securing Bitcoin’s proof-of-work blockchain and processing transactions, measured in exahashes per second (EH/s). It’s a significant indicator of both mining activity and competition levels among miners.

“The reduction appears linked to seasonal weather factors, with miners in the U.S. scaling back operations due to high temperatures,” analysts Reginald Smith and Charles Pearce explained. They highlighted that companies like Cipher, IREN, and Riot collectively operate over 80 EH/s in Texas, an area affected by the recent heatwave.

Even with the dip in hashrate, mining profits climbed higher. JPMorgan estimates miners earned roughly $55,300 per EH/s in daily block rewards during June, a 7% increase from April.

Gross profits from daily block rewards also rose 13% from the previous month, reaching their highest levels since January, the note added.

Meanwhile, the combined market value of 13 publicly listed bitcoin mining firms tracked by JPMorgan surged 23% in June, adding approximately $5.3 billion in market capitalization.

Mining firms with high-performance computing (HPC) exposure performed better than pure-play bitcoin miners, driven in part by speculation over a potential deal between Core Scientific (CORZ) and CoreWeave (CRWV).