Public Bitcoin miners Bitcoin miner CleanSpark’s (CLSK) stock outperformed peers on Tuesday after. The company raised its year-end hash rate or computing. Power guidance to 5.5 exahash per second (EH/s) from 5 EH/s. Helped by a surge in bitcoin (BTC) back above $20,000.
CleanSpark shares are ahead 19% in late afternoon trading versus gains in. The 14%-16% range for competitors Hut 8 Mining (HUT), Marathon Digital (MARA), and Riot Blockchain (RIOT). “Our hash rate growth over the last few months has been helped. Along with the acquisition of the Washington and Sandersville facilities, that only tells part of the story.
Said CleanSpark CEO Zach Bradford in a statement. However “This milestone reflects operational prowess and efficiency gains that I believe are unmatched in our industry.” With much of the mining industry struggling mightily. With the weight of the bitcoin bear market, CleanSpark has been among those taking the edge. By acquiring operations and assets at discounted prices. Most recently, CleanSpark bought a competitor.
Mawson Infrastructure Group’s (MIGI) mining facility in Sandersville, Georgia, and 6,468 latest-generation mining rigs for up to $42.5 million. The company also purchased 10,000 new Bitmain Antminer S19j Pros for $28 million – a significant markdown from the manufacturer’s listed price. “The effective deployment of our capital strategy has allowed us to exceed hash rate expectations,” said Chief Financial Officer Gary Vecchiarelli.
“Crucial to that strategy has been our long-held commitment to selling a portion of the bitcoin we mine to fund growth and operations.” CleanSpark has four owned and operated facilities with about 50,000 bitcoin mining machines operational. The company expects its 2023 year-end hash rate to be 22.4 EH/s. In comparison.
Marathon Digital expects to achieve a hash rate of 23.3 EH/s in mid-2023. There was a massive surge in public miners’ Bitcoin hash rate share as it has steadily grown during the last year, according to a report from the Hashrate Index. Occasioned by the enormous funds derived from the 2021 bull run, many of these miners invested heavily in mining rigs, thereby widening and enhancing their operations.
According to the report, this development led to a continuous rise in their Bitcoin hash rate. Before these expansive investments by these public miners, their hash rates were usually lower than those of private miners. A year ago, public miners recorded an aggregate 15 EH/s hash rate, whereas private miners recorded a total capacity of 134 EH/s, making up 90% of the network.
Public miners catching up with private counterparts
While public miners heavily invested in their expansion, private miners lacked access to funds and couldn’t invest. Because of this development, private miners are now experiencing slower growth rates than public miners. Worth noting, public miners have, over the year, recorded a whopping 295% increase in capacity, leaving private miners with just 58% growth.
As a result, as per current data, public miners have taken over an increasingly larger share of the Bitcoin mining network. Remarkably, public miners now enjoy a 58 EH/s hash rate, trailing the private hash rate of 177 EH/s. Even though private miners are far ahead of public miners, emerging reports indicated a continuous increase in the latter’s hash rate share. For instance, in January, Core Scientific, a renowned public mining firm, registered a surge in its hash rate.
Moreover, the level has continued to increase, sitting at about 25%, according to a recent study. With this, these public miners will continue to expand in capacity, facilitating rapid growth in their hash rate share.