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Bitcoin miners face a reckoning as the cryptocurrency’s tumble wipes out profits for all but the industry’s most efficient operators, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
Only miners with access to “very cheap” electricity of about 6 cents per kilowatt hour or less can stay profitable after Bitcoin slumped to $6,000 on Tuesday, said Sophie Lu, an analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance in Beijing. If Bitcoin stays this low for more than a couple of weeks, miners with high operating costs will leave the market, she said.
“There are definitely some miners who are already out of the money,” Lu said, adding that the industry’s most efficient players can keep going until $3,000.
Only miners with access to “very cheap” electricity of about 6 cents per kilowatt hour or less can stay profitable after Bitcoin slumped to $6,000 on Tuesday, said Sophie Lu, an analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance in Beijing. If Bitcoin stays this low for more than a couple of weeks, miners with high operating costs will leave the market, she said.
“There are definitely some miners who are already out of the money,” Lu said, adding that the industry’s most efficient players can keep going until $3,000.
The need to keep prices above $6,000 is a huge incentive for miners not to dump newly minted coins on the market.