Bitcoin halving slashes miners' production in May by over 40%
The Bitcoin halving occurs approximately every four years and automatically reduces miner rewards, thereby enhancing the flagship digital asset’s scarcity.
This year, the event cut mining rewards to 3.125 BTC — significantly decreasing total daily BTC production to a maximum of 450 BTC.
Miners reveal falling production
In a June 4 statement, CleanSpark reported a 42% decline in BTC production, falling to 417 BTC in May from 721 BTC in April. Despite this drop, the company claimed to have outperformed industry expectations, with its post-halving production exceeding some rivals’ pre-halving outputs.
The miner said it sold approximately 2.43 BTC in May, ending the month with a total Bitcoin holdings of 6,154 BTC.
Zach Bradford, CleanSpark CEO, highlighted the positives during this period, noting that the firm achieved a new high of nearly 18 exahashes per second while increasing efficiency to 23.05 joules per terahash.
Similarly, Riot Platforms experienced a 43% month-on-month decline in Bitcoin production to 215 BTC in May. However, the company received $7.3 million in energy credits due to power curtailment and participation in the local grid operator’s demand response program.
Riot CEO Jason Les pointed out that the firm was on course to its 2024 hash rate growth targets. He added:
“The first 100 MW building at our Corsicana Facility, Building A1, is now fully developed and miner deployment is nearing completion. A substantial portion of these miner deployments occurred towards the end of the month, and in total added 3.1 EH/s to Riot’s self-mining capacity, bringing Riot’s total self-mining capacity to 14.7 EH/s.”
Meanwhile, Bitfarms‘ Bitcoin production fell in line with the others. Its mining operations generated 156 BTC in May, down 42% from the 269 BTC it produced in April.
Btifarms said its production reflected the first month of reduced block rewards and was also impacted by some operational issues — including curtailments in Argentina and significant downtime during miner upgrades.
Meanwhile, the miner sold 136 BTC for $8.9 million as part of its treasury management process. It added that it holds approximately 850 BTC, valued at around $57.2 million as of May 31.
Market experts said these reports illustrate the broader impacts of the Bitcoin halving on miners and how it has compelled them to adapt their strategies to maintain profitability in a rapidly evolving environment.
