The last quarter of 2024 was a positive time for BTC miners, says H.C. Wainwright analysts, with potential volatility ahead.
Bitcoin miners saw significant growth in Q4 2024 as Bitcoin (BTC) crossed $100,000 for the first time, driven by increased institutional adoption and optimism following Donald Trump’s pro-crypto presidential election victory, according to an H.C. Wainwright analyst speaking with crypto.news.
BTC peaked at $106,144 in mid-December before closing the quarter at around $93,400, marking a 48% gain from Q3. The price surge, coupled with record-breaking ETF inflows, contributed to robust earnings for miners.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted $16.7 billion in Q4, nearly four times the $4.3 billion recorded in Q3, helping push the average BTC price to $83,432 for the quarter—a 36.7% increase from the previous quarter.
Analysts anticipate these trends will drive strong revenue growth and wider profit margins in miners’ upcoming earnings reports.
Bitcoin mining expansion
The mining sector saw notable expansion, with public miners adding 46 exahashes per second to their operations, bringing total deployed capacity to 235.8 EH/s. The global network hash rate averaged 738 EH/s in Q4, a 17.3% increase from Q3. As of early Q1 2025, the hash rate continues to climb, reaching 833 EH/s by Feb. 2.
Higher BTC prices and increased mining activity pushed total BTC production up 16.4% quarter-over-quarter to 11,366 BTC, while transaction fees surged 59.4% to 1,553 BTC. This drove total miner revenues up 41% to $3.7 billion. The combined market cap of public miners rose 21% to $28 billion, with AI-linked miners outperforming their peers.
Looking ahead, the first quarter of 2025 has started strong, with BTC averaging nearly $100,000 and ETF inflows reaching $5.7 billion. However, analysts warn of potential volatility due to ongoing U.S. trade tensions with Canada, Mexico, and China. Despite short-term uncertainty, they view any weakness in BTC or miners as a buying opportunity.
