Why Bitcoin Mining Slowdown Could Mean a Longer Correction

• A decline in Bitcoin mining activity has historically led to prolonged corrections, impacting market stability and miner profitability.
• Rising competition and energy costs have narrowed profit margins, forcing miners to accumulate reserves and adapt to economic shifts.

Bitcoin is under pressure again after on-chain analyst Ali Martinez revealed that Bitcoin mining activity is decreasing. According to him, every time this activity decreases, the price of Bitcoin tends to experience a correction for a fairly long period of time. This can be seen from the chart shared by Ali, which shows a downward trend in mining activity.

A decline in #Bitcoin $BTC mining activity has historically been followed by prolonged price corrections! pic.twitter.com/7oXV3M3tqf

— Ali (@ali_charts) February 18, 2025

Bitcoin Price Trend and Influencing Factors

BTC was trading at about $95,506 at press time, just 0.14% changed in the prior 24 hours. The lowest price in intraday trading was at $93,487; the highest price hit $96,696.

This price reduction is not a one-off occurrence. From its high on inauguration day, the price of Bitcoin has dropped almost 14% since President Donald Trump’s inauguration for his second term on January 20, 2025.

Furthermore, aggravating market sentiment is the ambiguity of the incoming government’s crypto policy, notably the lack of clarification on the strategic Bitcoin reserve announced by the SEC.

Furthermore, current inflation figures imply that the Federal Reserve is not going to lower interest rates anytime soon, hence less appealing, riskier assets like Bitcoin are compared to bonds and other conventional investments.

Bitcoin Mining’s Role in the US Economy

The United States’ economy has benefited much from the mining of Bitcoin. A Perryman Group analysis indicates that the industry has created more than 31,000 jobs and added more than $4.1 billion in yearly GDP. Among the states most benefited by this activity are Texas, Georgia, and New York. Texas alone gave over 12,200 Bitcoin mining jobs and $1.7 billion to the economy.

Leading industry players like CleanSpark and MARA Holdings keep growing their activities. With an operational hash rate of 40.1 EH/s, CleanSpark said they effectively mined 626 Bitcoin in January 2025, boosting their overall Bitcoin holdings to 10,556 BTC.

Bitcoin Miners Face Tight Margins Amid Higher Costs

On the other hand, increasing competition and rising energy costs have narrowed profit margins for miners. To address this, some companies have started to build up large Bitcoin reserves to cope with declining profitability.

In addition, the “halving” event that occurred last April also had a significant impact. The daily reward for miners was reduced from 900 to 450 coins, increasing the average production cost to around $55,950 per BTC. Even when including equipment depreciation and stock-based compensation, the production cost can reach $106,000 per BTC.

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