Hut 8, one of the major Bitcoin mining companies in North America, has seen a significant decline in its proprietary production for April, reporting a mining output of 148 BTC, down 36% from March.
This decline is attributed to the relocation of miners previously hosted in Kearney and Granbury sites, coupled with the impact of the halving event.
The company revealed in its monthly update that it mined 148 bitcoin with its proprietary mining fleet in April, marking a considerable 36% decrease compared to the previous month. This resulted from a realized hashrate of 3.44 EH/s, down 51% from Hut 8’s peak of 6.27 EH/s in December 2023.
Hut 8 Declining Hash Rate
While the halving event has played a role, Hut 8’s production drop was mainly due to relocating proprietary miners previously hosted in the Kearney and Granbury sites, which were acquired by Marathon in December.
Hut 8’s CEO, Asher Genoot, attributed the decrease to operational factors but highlighted the team’s ability to maximize deployed hashrate while transitioning the fleet to new facilities.
Genoot emphasized the successful energization of 63 megawatts at the Salt Creek site in Texas, where nearly 18,000 miners were brought online in just over three months. He praised the team’s efficiency in relocating over 25,000 miners from Kearney and Granbury to Salt Creek, minimizing fleet downtime. He stated:
“In eight days, we removed more than 25,000 miners on 440 pallets in 20 loaded 53-foot transports, a testament to our team’s ability to execute complex operational activities efficiently to minimize downtime in our fleet.”
Additionally, Hut 8 partially energized the Cedarvale site, a 215-megawatt facility in Ward County, Texas, on behalf of its partner Ionic Digital, further expanding its mining capacity.
Notably, Hut 8’s total self-mining, hosting, and managed power capacity surged to over one gigawatt in April, with the partial energization of the Cedarvale site. This growth in capacity demonstrates the company’s commitment to expanding its mining operations and maximizing its presence in the market.
Among other public mining companies like Bitfarms, Cipher, CleanSpark, Core Scientific, Riot, and Terawulf, a decline in production ranging between 6% and 12% was reported for April, as the robust bitcoin fee market briefly offset the halving’s impact.
On the other hand, one of the largest bitcoin mining companies and Hut 8’s rival, Marathon reported a 15% increase in its average operational hash rate for April, reaching 21.1 exahash, and a 21% rise in bitcoin production to 850 BTC.
Fred Thiel, Marathon’s chairman and CEO, attributed this growth to the reactivation of capacity in Ellendale and improvements made at other sites.
Despite facing a decline in proprietary production due to operational transitions, Hut 8’s strategic moves to expand mining capacity and optimize operations reflect a commitment to navigate through challenges and capitalize on opportunities in the dynamic Bitcoin mining industry.
