- Analytics firm Bernstein has published a forecast on the bitcoin miner sector trend.
- The firm’s experts believe that large participants will increase their hash rate.
- It is they who will ultimately benefit from halving and further increasing production capacity, experts believe.
The 16 largest publicly traded mining companies in the world account for 16% of the total hashrate, CoinDesk reported, citing a report by Bernstein analysts. Experts believe that the increase in production capacity will primarily benefit these counterparties, as they are more resilient to volatility in the market.
Riot Blockchain, Marathon Digital Holdings, Cipher Mining, Iris Energy, and Argo Blockchain are among the companies mentioned above, according to CompaniesMarketCap.
According to Bernstein, the total hash rate of large miners is 72 EH/s. Meanwhile, large miners plan to increase this figure by 182% in the next 2-3 years, experts emphasized.
At the time of writing, the hashrate on the bitcoin network is approaching the 400 UN/s level, according to BTC.com:
Hashrate of the bitcoin network
“Larger miners with low production costs and small liabilities are likely to benefit more as the hash rate increases,” the report said.
The production cost of 15 of the 16 large miners mentioned by the company is around $15,000 per BTC. That gives them an extra “margin of safety,” experts say.
The upcoming halving, expected in the first quarter of 2024, will double those costs. If bitcoin remains at current levels ($29,130 at the time of writing, according to CoinMarketCap), small miners will be on the verge of breaking even, Bernstein said.. Previously, we covered a prediction that gave the odds of such an outcome.
So far, the odds of such an outcome have not been favorable.