CleanSpark produced 593 Bitcoin in August 2026 as rising prices improved mining revenue during the second half of the month, but the Nasdaq-listed miner sold more than it produced — 821 BTC — ending the month with a smaller treasury than it started with.
The company’s September 8 update paints a picture of a miner quietly monetizing its stack while its fleet efficiency keeps it on the right side of industry economics. Here is what the numbers say.
Production and hashrate
CleanSpark reported average production of 19.12 BTC per day and peak daily production of 20.40 BTC in August. Its year-to-date production reached 4,903 BTC. The August output increased by seven BTC from the 586 BTC produced in July, even though average operating hashrate slipped slightly from 38.6 exahashes per second to 38.3 EH/s.
Operational hashrate — which CleanSpark defines as the highest computing power achieved concurrently by installed, energized and functional miners, not the average capacity running throughout the month — remained at 50 EH/s. The deployed fleet contained 201,269 machines as of August 31.
Treasury: down 228 BTC
CleanSpark ended August holding 13,703 BTC, down from 13,931 BTC on July 31. The decline resulted from selling 821 BTC against 593 BTC produced — a net treasury outflow of 228 BTC.
The sales breakdown is the more interesting part. Only 77 BTC were sold at spot prices. The bulk came from 500 BTC sold through call exercises and 244 BTC connected to a delta-neutral basis trade. The company reported an average sale price of 65,420 USD per BTC, calculated using net sale proceeds plus premiums generated, divided by the total Bitcoin sold — meaning it is not necessarily the simple spot-market price received for each coin.
CleanSpark also disclosed that 3,951 BTC, roughly 29% of its holdings, were posted as collateral or recorded as receivables, all connected to derivative transactions. The monthly release did not disclose the profits, losses, counterparties or maturity dates associated with those positions — a detail that will matter to anyone assessing the real risk profile of the treasury.
Hashprice at its best since May
Mining economics improved during August, particularly after Bitcoin rallied during the final third of the month. Hashprice — the revenue miners earn per unit of computing power — opened August at 31.63 USD per petahash per day and closed at 39.33 USD, according to Luxor’s monthly analysis. It averaged 34.63 USD for the month, the highest monthly level since May 2026.
For machines operating at exactly CleanSpark’s reported peak efficiency of 16.07 joules per terahash, that average hashprice implies an electricity-only breakeven of roughly nine cents per kilowatt-hour. That threshold excludes employee costs, maintenance, property expenses, pool fees, depreciation, financing and corporate overhead. CleanSpark did not disclose its average August electricity price or fleet-wide average efficiency, and the 16.07 J/TH reading is a peak measurement — it cannot by itself calculate the company’s actual monthly electricity bill.
Luxor estimated that fleets operating between 14 and 19 J/TH generated average energy revenue of about 87 USD per megawatt-hour during August, against an industry average power cost of approximately 48 USD per megawatt-hour. Those figures suggest an efficient fleet could generate a positive gross margin after electricity, and since CleanSpark’s peak efficiency falls within that range, its best-performing machines likely cleared their direct power costs. Whether the entire operation was net profitable in August cannot be established without the actual power bill, average fleet efficiency and full operating expenses.
A fleet split from the industry
The numbers underline how divided the mining industry remains between profitable modern fleets and older machines running below breakeven. CleanSpark reported peak power use of 808 megawatts maximum concurrent draw against 1.8 gigawatts of contracted capacity, giving it room to keep upgrading machines toward the efficient end of the curve. Less capitalized competitors running older hardware on expensive power face continued pressure, and the August hashprice recovery — while welcome — was not enough to change that bifurcation.
The contrast with Marathon Digital’s August report is stark: Marathon produced 670 BTC and held its entire treasury — a full-hodl stance — while CleanSpark harvested premiums through calls and basis trades. Neither strategy is objectively superior; they reflect different balance sheets and different convictions about Bitcoin’s trajectory into the September 16 FOMC meeting, where rate expectations have swung hard enough to move mining-adjacent asset prices all month.
What to watch next
For September, the variables are familiar: hashprice direction depends on Bitcoin’s price and difficulty adjustments, while CleanSpark’s realized economics depend on how much of its 3,951 BTC derivatives book rolls off and at what cost. The company’s 239 million USD quarterly loss reported earlier this year, on revenue that fell 30.5% and missed estimates, shows the pressure the miner is managing through — which makes the options-income strategy look less like a choice and more like a necessity.
At press time, Bitcoin trades around 78,500 USD — near the top of the range that drove August’s second-half revenue improvement — with Ethereum near 2,487 USD and Solana at about 103 USD.
sold 821 against 593 mined and the treasury is down 228 btc. this is fine apparently bc options income
options income IS the strategy now, plain mining margins are razor thin. read the sales breakdown, the covered call portion is carrying them
only 77 of the 821 sold btc were spot. the 500 from call exercises is the whole story, theyre running a options desk not a hodl strat anymore
finally someone read the breakdown. 500 of those coins came from call exercises, they got PAID to hand over btc at strike. calling that selling is missing the entire trade
13,703 BTC held is still a top tier public stack. And monetizing into strength with 19.12 BTC/day production is reasonable treasury management, not panic.
13,703 BTC treasury down 228 on the month while hashrate held 50 EH/s. selling into strength is the rational move most miners never make
Rational until the market chops sideways for a quarter and those covered calls cap every rally. Works great in a slow bleed, hurts in a squeeze.
19.12 btc a day average, 201k machines. the efficiency race is brutal, anyone running older fleets is straight up underwater at these levels