Bitcoin Mining Profitability Declines in April Amid Rising Network Hashrate, Jefferies Reports

Bitcoin miners faced tighter margins in April as the network’s hashrate increased, pushing up competition and reducing profitability, according to a new report from investment bank Jefferies.

Analysts Jonathan Petersen and Jan Aygul highlighted that Bitcoin mining profitability fell by 6.6% in April, driven by a 6.7% growth in the network hashrate — the total computing power used to validate transactions and mine new blocks. A higher hashrate typically means greater mining difficulty, which can squeeze miner earnings.

Production numbers from U.S.-listed miners reflected this trend, with a combined output of 3,277 bitcoins mined in April, down from 3,534 in March. These companies’ share of the total network output also dipped slightly to 24.1% from 24.8% the previous month.

Leading the pack, Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA) mined the most coins with 705 BTC, while CleanSpark (CLSK) followed closely, generating 633 BTC. Marathon retained the highest installed hashrate at 57.3 exahashes per second (EH/s), and CleanSpark held the second spot at 42.4 EH/s.

Operational reliability was strongest at Iris Energy (IREN), which achieved an implied uptime near 97%, with HIVE Digital Technologies (HIVE) not far behind at 96%.

As the Bitcoin network becomes more competitive, miners will need to optimize operations and efficiency to maintain profitability in an evolving market.