Bitcoin Mining Stocks Rally as BTC Holds Above $30K Despite Looming Halving Concerns
The shares of bitcoin (BTC) miners are rallying on Monday after the largest cryptocurrency by market value continued to hold above $30,000 even as the mining industry is gearing up for upcoming halving that could cut mining rewards in half.
The shares of Bit Digital (BTBT), TeraWulf (WULF), Hut 8 (HUT) and CleanSpark (CLSK) rose more than 10%, outpacing their peers such as Marathon Digital (MARA), Riot Platforms (RIOT) and Hive Digital (HIVE) that rose between 5% and 9%. The only mining stock that fell, though, was Bitdeer (BTDR), which was down about 10% at press time.
The moves in mining shares generally outpace other crypto-related stocks as mining digital assets is their primary source of revenue. On Monday, other crypto-related stocks, such as Coinbase (COIN) and MicroStrategy (MSTR), were up less than 6%.
The mining stocks have outpaced bitcoin’s run this year, rebounding from their 2022 slump. The Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI), which tracks the performance of mining stocks, has doubled in price this year, while bitcoin has risen 87%.
Trouble could loom ahead, though. The bitcoin halving – also known as the halvening – is slated to take place next year. The event will cut in half the reward for successfully mining a bitcoin block. This event takes place roughly every four years and is part of Bitcoin’s code to reduce inflationary pressure on the cryptocurrency. Currently, rewards are 6.25 BTC per block or about $187,000 at the current spot price, and in April 2024 or so, they will be reduced to 3.125 BTC per block (approximately $93,000).
Halving is generally considered negative for the mining industry, and investors are keenly focused on the event’s impact on the miners, said B. Riley analyst Lucas Pipes. “We believe that the halving is, first and foremost, negative for the group. However, low-cost producers should fare better than high-cost producers and well-capitalized companies should fare better than levered ones,” he wrote in a research note on Oct. 20.
Miners are gearing up by either buying more-efficient mining machines or diversifying into alternative sources of income that could help keep them afloat post-halving. In fact, Bit Digital earlier announced that, like many of its peers, it is entering the artificial intelligence (AI) business, which will earn them enough cash flow to sustain their mining business, regardless of where the market is headed.
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