In December, mining profitability saw an uptick as bitcoin’s price increase outpaced the growth of the network’s hashrate, according to a report from Jefferies. U.S.-listed bitcoin miners contributed to 25.3% of the global network’s hashpower during the month.

Jefferies lowered its price target for MARA Holdings (MARA) to $20 from $24, maintaining a “hold” rating. Despite the downgrade, MARA shares rose by 0.5%, reaching $18.43 in early trading on Friday.

Bitcoin’s price increase of 15% in December was a key factor driving profitability, outpacing the network’s hashrate growth of 6.5%. The hashrate measures the combined computational power used in mining and processing transactions on the blockchain, and its rise indicates increased competition and mining difficulty.

Average daily revenue per exahash grew by 7.1% from November, reaching $59,585, according to Jefferies’ data.

U.S.-listed miners produced 3,602 bitcoins in December, a slight increase from the previous month’s 3,404 BTC. MARA was the largest producer, mining 890 BTC, followed by CleanSpark (CLSK) with 668 BTC.

MARA continued to dominate with the highest installed hashrate in the sector at 53.2 exahashes per second (EH/s), while CleanSpark ranked second with a hashrate of 39.1 EH/s.