Bitcoin Mining More Profitable in February, Publicly Traded Miners Lose Market Share

According to CoinDesk, Bitcoin mining was more profitable in February than in January, as the cryptocurrency's price rose 15% while the network hashrate increased at a slower rate of 9%, according to a research report by investment bank Jefferies. Publicly listed North American mining companies produced a smaller share of bitcoin compared with the previous month, slipping to 17.5% of the total network from 19%, as new hashrate came online from other sources. The network hashrate has nearly doubled from a year ago, but publicly traded miners have lost market share, analysts Jonathan Petersen and Amanda Santillo wrote. Marathon Digital (MARA) had previously used third-party providers to host its machines rather than building its own infrastructure, but the company has changed strategy and is buying out some of the hosting services, a defensive move ahead of the halving, which Jefferies supports. The bank maintained its hold rating on Marathon Digital shares and cut its price target to $24 from $30. It increased its price target on hold-rated Argo Blockchain (ARBK) to $1.50 from $1.20 to reflect the higher bitcoin price. The bank said that with less capex dedicated to mining facility development, ARBK should have cash to buy additional miners and increase hashrate more quickly.