Bitcoin Miners Think Outside The Box To Survive Crypto Winter As Top Firms Look Beyond Web3 ⋆ ZyCrypto

• Bitcoin miners are pivoting to other digital solutions as the bear market bites harder. 
• New “hodling” strategies, hedging bets against bitcoin prices, and new acquisitions, among others, are new techniques implemented by miners. 
• Experts view the larger picture as a major hurdle for the cryptocurrency market due to miners’ role in Proof-of-Work blockchains. 

The crypto winter has seen prices of digital assets take a nosedive, with market leader Bitcoin (BTC) losing over 55% of its value since the start of the year as miners clutch at straws to stay afloat.

Bitcoin miners, the powerhouse of the Proof-of-Work (PoW) blockchain, are amongst the most hit by the downturn in the market, with mining corporations in search of new solutions to stay afloat. Most mining companies are now going outside the web3 structure to wider digital solutions.

Applied Blockchain is implementing a name change to indicate that they are focused on Bitcoin mining and transitioning to include other digital solutions. The company has updated its website and logo to its new name, Applied Digital, with the company CEO Wes Cummins stating that they see a possible larger market opportunity.

“We see a much larger market opportunity pertaining to high-performance computing applications relating to image processing, graphics rendering, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.”

The company further plans to acquire Marathon Digital (MARA), a publicly traded mining corporation that just signed a 200-megawatt hosting deal.

Another mining giant, Hut 8 Mining, has managed to avoid losses these past months and is implementing its hodl strategy. The company says it has deposited all its Bitcoin into custody with no plans to sell in this bear market. The same cannot be said of other companies now selling their bitcoin reserves to break even. The company has also hinted at plans of expansion away from Bitcoin mining.

“The company is growing its HPC business, which includes potentially leveraging our GPU machines to provide AI, machine learning, or VFX rendering services to customers, and mining the next most profitable proof of work digital asset during idle time.”

The losses in perspective 

Bitcoin mining reserves dropped to a new low in 12 years following asset sales by mining companies to cover their losses. Both small-scale miners and large mining rigs have been hit. Riot Blockchain (RIOT) has lost 60% of its value in the past 6 months, while over the same period, Bitfarms (BITF) and MARA have plunged by 70% and 46%, respectively. 

The losses by these publicly traded mining firms went from bad to worse, with HUT 8 Mining posting a loss of 56% in the last six months. Mawson and Waha Technologies have sold their assets at a discount to competition, CleanSpark, after several months of losses.