The Hardware/Software Landscape
As November 2023 drew to a close, the Bitcoin mining industry found itself at a fascinating inflection point. With BTC hovering around $37,254 according to CoinMarketCap data from November 27, mining operations across the globe were experiencing a significant profitability boost that had not been seen since before the Terra Luna collapse in mid-2022.
Mining revenue for the month of November reached approximately $5.30 million daily, marking a 25% surge from October’s $4.26 million average. This uptick was primarily driven by Bitcoin’s steady price appreciation throughout the month, which saw the leading cryptocurrency reclaim the $37,000 level for the first time in over a year.
The hardware landscape was dominated by Bitmain’s Antminer S19 XP series and the newer S21 units, which offered efficiency ratings below 20 joules per terahash. Mining farms that had upgraded their fleets during the bear market were now reaping the rewards, with operational margins expanding significantly as revenue per petahash climbed steadily through the month.
Hashrate and Difficulty
Bitcoin’s network hashrate continued its relentless climb toward all-time highs in late November 2023. The combination of new-generation mining hardware coming online and the economic incentive created by rising Bitcoin prices pushed more miners to power up their rigs, including older-generation machines that had become profitable again at current price levels.
HIVE Digital Technologies, one of the publicly traded mining companies, reported producing 276.3 Bitcoin during November from its combined ASIC and GPU mining operations, representing an average of 66.7 Bitcoin per exahash. This production figure underscored the operational efficiency gains that larger, well-capitalized miners were achieving even before the anticipated 2024 halving event.
The network’s mining difficulty adjustments reflected this influx of computational power, with each adjustment cycle keeping pace with the growing hashrate. For smaller miners, this meant thinner margins despite the favorable price environment, as competition for block rewards intensified across the network.
Profitability Metrics
One of the most remarkable events of late November 2023 was the record-breaking $3.1 million transaction fee paid by a single Bitcoin sender on November 23. The transaction, mined by Antpool, became the largest fee ever paid in Bitcoin’s 14-year history. The sender’s wallet had been created just minutes before initiating the transfer, and the recipient received only a fraction of the intended amount, with the vast majority going to the mining pool as a fee.
While this was an extreme outlier, it highlighted the broader trend of increasing transaction fees on the Bitcoin network as on-chain activity intensified. For miners, elevated fee revenue provided a welcome supplement to the standard 6.25 BTC block subsidy, effectively increasing the total revenue per block beyond what the price alone would suggest.
Average electricity costs for industrial-scale mining operations ranged from $0.03 to $0.05 per kilowatt-hour across major mining hubs in the United States, particularly in Texas and Georgia. At these rates and with BTC at $37,254, even mid-generation S19-series machines maintained positive margins, creating a broad profitability window that extended well beyond just the most efficient hardware.
Environmental Impact
The sustainability conversation around Bitcoin mining continued to evolve through November 2023. Companies like TeraWulf, which generated domestically produced Bitcoin powered by nuclear, hydro, and solar energy with a stated goal of utilizing 100% zero-carbon energy, represented the growing trend toward greener mining operations in the United States.
HIVE Digital Technologies also completed the acquisition of a data center facility in Sweden during this period, specifically to expand its access to clean hydroelectricity. This move reflected a broader industry shift where miners were actively seeking out renewable energy sources, driven both by regulatory pressure and genuine environmental consciousness within the sector.
The narrative around Bitcoin mining’s environmental footprint was slowly shifting from pure criticism to a more nuanced discussion about the role of flexible demand in supporting renewable energy infrastructure, particularly in regions with excess hydroelectric or geothermal capacity.
Strategic Outlook
With the April 2024 halving just months away, mining companies were racing to optimize their operations and build cash reserves. The 25% revenue increase in November provided crucial breathing room for operations that had weathered the brutal 2022 bear market. Companies that used the downturn to upgrade hardware and secure favorable energy contracts were now positioned to maintain profitability even after the block reward was cut from 6.25 to 3.125 BTC.
The approaching halving also drove consolidation in the industry, with well-capitalized public miners acquiring smaller operations and expanding their facilities. This trend was expected to accelerate through the first quarter of 2024, as companies sought to maximize their hashrate share before the reward reduction took effect.
For individual miners and smaller operations, the strategy was straightforward: mine as much as possible at current prices, accumulate Bitcoin on the balance sheet, and prepare for a post-halving environment where only the most efficient operations would survive. The November revenue surge was a timely reminder that in Bitcoin mining, preparation during the bear market is rewarded when conditions turn favorable.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Mining profitability calculations depend on individual circumstances including electricity costs, hardware efficiency, and market conditions. Always conduct your own research before making any mining investment decisions.
$5.3M daily revenue and S21 units below 20 J/TH. the miners who survived the bear are printing now
Sato M. yep. the S21 at 17.5 J/TH is a game changer for ops that secured cheap power during the bear. margins went from survival to expansion real quick
25% jump month over month is wild. remember when hashrate was flat through the whole luna crash? those days feel ancient
S19 XP fleet holders must be grinning. upgraded during the bear, now margins expanding faster than difficulty can catch up
luna crash hashrate barely flinched because most miners were still profitable at those levels. 2022 was a price crisis not a mining crisis
25 percent revenue jump sounds great until you factor in the 18 percent difficulty increase in the same window. net gain for most ops was maybe 5 percent
network hashrate hitting new highs while daily revenue only 25% up tells you difficulty is eating the gains. the S21 advantage is temporary until everyone upgrades
S21 advantage is maybe 6 months before bitmain floods the market with new units. mining is an arms race that always converges to slim margins
darkforest_ difficulty adjustment is a feature not a bug. it literally self-corrects so margins always converge. the S21 window is just a preview of the next cycle
hashrabbit_ S21 advantage is already shrinking. bitmain shipped 6 months of backlog in Q1 and now everyone has them. margins compressing back to normal
the S21 advantage window is probably 6-8 months before fleet-wide upgrades catch up. miners who secured early units are printing in that gap
Heidi L. the S21 advantage window was closer to 4 months in practice. Bitmain flooded Q1 shipments and by April everyone had them. the real edge was securing cheap power contracts during the bear, not the hardware
Frej D. exactly. everyone focuses on J/TH but the ops running S19 XPs at 0.03/kWh in Paraguay were more profitable than S21 operators in Texas at 0.08. power contract beats hardware efficiency every time
Frej D. the power contract point is the real alpha. S21 efficiency means nothing at 0.08/kWh. a beat up S19 at sub 3 cent hydro or flare gas still prints more margin
Joon-ho K. exactly. everyone quotes J/TH but nobody talks about their power contract. an S19 XP at 3 cent hydro in Paraguay prints more than an S21 at 8 cent in Texas. efficiency is nothing without cheap power
secured early units? more like took on massive debt to buy them. every miner i know borrowed against their existing fleet for S21s
25% revenue jump but hashrate grew 18% in the same period. the net gain for individual miners is way smaller than the headline suggests
Anika S. exactly. 25 percent revenue up but difficulty ate most of it. the real metric is revenue per petahash and that barely moved for S19 fleets
watt_budget_ revenue per petahash is the only metric that matters and it barely moved. 25% revenue up sounds great in headlines but difficulty ate most of it. glad someone actually ran the numbers
Anika S. 25% revenue up vs 18% hashrate up means revenue per petahash barely moved. the headline sounds great until you run the actual numbers for your fleet
joule_count_ spot on. 25% revenue up vs 18% hashrate up means real per-TH gain was maybe 6%. headlines make it sound like miners are printing money again
$5.3M daily revenue across the entire network. a single mid-size gold mine probably generates more. crypto mining is still small in the grand scheme
Noor A. comparing crypto mining revenue to a gold mine is apples to oranges. gold mines have decades of capex and regulatory overhead. a better comparison is BTC mining vs other digital infrastructure margins
S21s below 20 J/TH changed the game for ops with sub 4 cent power. everyone else is just surviving until the next difficulty adjustment