Bitcoin Miners Struggle Amid Rising Difficulty
Key Takeaways
Bitcoin miners are under pressure. The hash price remains stable at 48 USD per petahash per second (PH/s), despite increasing mining difficulty and declining transaction fees. An upcoming difficulty adjustment could bring short-term relief. Older mining hardware is becoming increasingly unprofitable, while modern devices remain profitable.
Rising Difficulty and Declining Fees
On March 23, 2025, mining difficulty increased by 1.4% to 113.76 trillion at block 889,081. At the same time, the network hashrate dropped below 800 exahashes per second (EH/s) after briefly reaching 840 EH/s.
Another issue for miners: transaction fees have dropped significantly. On March 24, they accounted for only 1.12% of the total block reward – the lowest share since January 2022. Currently, an average of only 0.04 BTC in fees is earned per block.
Bitcoin Price Recovers, but Pressure Remains
The Bitcoin price fell to 80,000 USD on March 10 before recovering to 85,172 USD by March 24. Nevertheless, the hash price remains below the critical 50 USD mark, which many miners need for sustainable operations.
Daily miner revenues reached 39.23 million USD – a slight increase from the low of 36.27 million USD in early March. However, revenues have dropped 17% since December, when miners were earning over 47 million USD per day.
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Efficiency Becomes Crucial
Many miners are turning to more efficient hardware to compensate for shrinking margins. Older models like the Antminer S19 XP and S19 Pro now generate only 0.088 and 0.067 USD per kilowatt-hour, respectively – often below electricity costs in many regions. As a result, thousands of these devices are at risk of becoming unprofitable.
In contrast, modern mining rigs like the Antminer S21 Hyd remain profitable. According to Braiins, they continue to generate over 4.50 USD in daily revenue, providing better protection against current market conditions.
Difficulty Increases – Bad Timing for Miners
Bitcoin difficulty is adjusted every 2,016 blocks. The latest increase reflects past network activity rather than current hashrate trends. As a result, miners face higher difficulty while the hashrate declines.
According to Will Baxter, Executive Vice President at Braiins, difficulty recently increased by 5.6%, pushing the hash price down to 0.054 USD per terahash per day (TH/day). While large mining companies are safeguarded by modern hardware and reserves, smaller miners with older equipment are struggling to survive. Baxter predicts that around 50 EH/s of mining capacity could go offline this year.
Outlook: Relief in Sight?
The next difficulty adjustment on April 7 could bring a 4.3% reduction to 108.86 trillion. This forecast is based on the current average block time of 10.45 minutes, which exceeds the target and suggests a downward adjustment.
However, the industry remains divided. Institutional miners with modern hardware and low electricity costs can continue operations. Smaller operators with older devices and higher operating costs are scaling back, as reflected in the declining hashrate.
Without a Bitcoin price recovery or a rise in transaction fees, the hash price is likely to remain under pressure. The upcoming difficulty adjustment will be crucial for short-term margins – especially with the next Bitcoin halving on the horizon, which will further reduce block rewards.
Our Assessment
Bitcoin miners are facing a challenging period. The low hash price and increasing difficulty put particular pressure on smaller operators. Efficiency is becoming the key factor. Those investing in modern hardware can remain profitable. The next difficulty adjustment may bring short-term relief, but in the long run, Bitcoin price trends and transaction fees will be decisive.
| Symbol | BTC |
| Coin type | Alt Coin |
| Transaction Speed | Slow |
| Pros |
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| Cons |
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| Further practical applications | |
| Price | $88,260.00 |
| 24h % | 1.09 % |
| 7d % | 5.72 % |
| 30d % | -7.72 % |
| 60d % | -15.56 % |
| 1y % | 24.46 % |
| Market Cap | $1,751,383,104,615.00 |
| Max. Supply | 21,000,000.00 |
| Official Links | Website | Whitepaper | Source Code |
| Socials | Reddit | X | Message Board |
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