JPMorgan Reports Mixed Performance for Bitcoin Miners as HPC-Exposed Stocks Struggle

The performance of Bitcoin mining stocks in the first two weeks of April showed mixed results, with companies focused solely on Bitcoin mining, like MARA Holdings (MARA) and CleanSpark (CLSK), outperforming those with exposure to high-performance computing (HPC), according to a new research report by JPMorgan.

During this period, MARA and CleanSpark managed to outperform Bitcoin (BTC), while miners involved in HPC, such as Bitdeer (BTDR), TeraWulf (WULF), IREN (IREN), and Riot Platforms (RIOT), faced challenges and underperformed. HPC, which is utilized in applications like artificial intelligence, adds extra exposure to the tech sector, likely contributing to weaker results.

The report noted that while March was a strong month for U.S.-listed Bitcoin miners, with 15 exahashes per second (EH/s) of capacity added and more tokens mined, the first half of April saw a slowdown. This was attributed to faster growth in network hashrate, surpassing the expansion of U.S. miners, and a drop in Bitcoin’s average price.

“The growth in network hashrate outpaced the capacity expansion of U.S. miners, and the decline in Bitcoin’s price early in April has pressured mining economics,” analysts Reginald Smith and Charles Pearce explained.

JPMorgan estimated that U.S.-listed miners are trading at 1.2 times their proportional share of the four-year block reward opportunity, marking the lowest level in more than two years.

For the first two weeks of April, miners earned around $41,500 in daily block reward revenue per EH/s, which represents a 12% decline compared to March. The network hashrate increased by 85 EH/s in April, reaching an average of 900 EH/s. This rise in hashrate is indicative of growing competition and increased mining difficulty.

The total market capitalization of the 13 U.S.-listed Bitcoin miners tracked by JPMorgan declined by 2%, bringing the total to $16.9 billion in April.