The Bitcoin network's hash rate, a measure of mining competition, fell for the second straight month in December, according to a report released Monday by Wall Street giant JPMorgan (JPM).
Analysts Reginald Smith and Charles Pearce wrote: “The average monthly network hash rate, a measure of industry competition, fell 30 EH/s (-3%) month-on-month in December to an average of 1,045 EH/s.”
Hashrate refers to the total computational power used to mine and process transactions on a proof-of-work blockchain, measured in exahashes per second.
Although competition for miners has decreased, mining profitability has also declined. Analysts estimated that miners earned an average of $38,700 per EH/sec in daily block reward revenue last month, which is “a 7% decrease from November and 32% year-over-year decline, representing the lowest level on record.” According to the report, daily block reward gross margin also decreased last month, dropping 9% to $17,100 per EH/s.
The bank did not elaborate on why mining profitability has declined, but the decline in Bitcoin prices since October is likely adding to margin pressure for miners already feeling the pain of the recent halving and rising energy prices.
However, not everything is hopeless. The market capitalization of the 14 U.S.-listed Bitcoin miners and data center operators tracked by the bank rose to $48 billion by the end of 2025, an increase of 73% over the year. Last month, Hut 8 (HUT) was the best performer of the group with a 2% gain, while CleanSpark (CLSK) underperformed with a 33% drop.
While only two companies outperformed Bitcoin in December, nine out of 14 companies outperformed the largest cryptocurrency during the year, led by IREN (IREN) and Cipher Mining (CIFR), the report added.
read more: Bitcoin mining profitability declines for fourth consecutive month in November: JP Morgan
