Bitcoin miners Cipher, Bitdeer, HIVE narrow hashrate divide

Public Bitcoin mining leaderboard: Source: The Miner Mag

Hashrate measures the computational power miners contribute to securing the Bitcoin blockchain. Realized hashrate tracks actual onchain performance, or the rate at which valid blocks are successfully mined.

For publicly traded miners, realized hashrate is a closer indicator of operational efficiency and revenue potential. The metric has become a key measure ahead of third-quarter earnings season.

Mining debt surges to $12.7 billion

Bitcoin miners are taking on record debt levels and also expands into new mining rigs, artificial intelligence infrastructure and other capital-intensive ventures. Total debt across the sector has jumped to $12.7 billion, up from $2.1 billion just 12 months ago.

VanEck research noted that miners must continuously invest in next-generation hardware to maintain their share of Bitcoins total hashrate and avoid falling behind competitors.

Some mining companies have turned to AI and high-performance computing workloads to diversify revenue streams. The change comes after dropping margins following the 2024 Bitcoin halving, which reduced block rewards to 3.125 BTC.

The debt increase shows aggressive expansion plans across the industry. Mining companies face pressure to scale operations quickly or risk losing market share to better-capitalized rivals.