In June, the global Bitcoin network's total hash rate reached a historic high, indicating that despite the reduction in block rewards, some miners are still increasing their investments. This reflects the ongoing expansion of large-scale mining farms and institutional mining companies, as well as the accelerated exit of small and individual miners.

In recent years, the Bitcoin mining industry has long bid farewell to the "home mining machines operating solo" era. North America, Russia, Kazakhstan, and the Middle East are becoming important hubs for global mining, especially in regions with abundant energy supply, low electricity prices, and relatively friendly policies. For example, Texas in the United States has attracted a large number of large mining farms due to its flexible power grid, lower energy costs, and relatively accommodating attitude towards the crypto industry.

At the same time, small and medium-sized miners with weaker risk resistance and outdated equipment find it increasingly difficult to maintain profitability solely through traditional data centers, facing multiple pressures such as rising electricity prices, price volatility, and surging hash rates.

With the growing global emphasis on carbon emissions and sustainability issues, Bitcoin mining has been labeled as "high energy consumption, high emissions" and is facing stricter policy scrutiny. From the United States to Europe, some regions have explicitly proposed measures such as taxing electricity used for mining and restricting fossil fuel mining, forcing mining companies to accelerate their transition to clean energy.

This energy transition is not only a compliance pressure but also a necessary option for mining companies to optimize their cost structure and attract funding. Many publicly listed mining companies disclose the proportion of renewable energy in their quarterly reports to convey positive signals about their ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) strategies to the market.

For instance, in recent years, countries rich in hydropower resources like Norway and Canada have become favored locations for mining farms, with some farms utilizing local wind and solar renewable energy to reduce operating costs. Another trend is "flexible load," where some mining farms even participate in local grid scheduling, purchasing surplus electricity at low prices to help balance peak and off-peak electricity usage.

As the Bitcoin mining industry continues to mature, the trend of financialization becomes increasingly evident. Traditional financial institutions and publicly listed companies are not only directly participating by purchasing mining machines and building farms but have also developed a series of financial products around mining assets, such as mining machine collateral loans, hash rate leasing, and options hedging.

Companies like Marathon and Riot, which are publicly listed in the U.S., have raised funds through the public market in recent years to expand their scale, enhancing their risk resistance and putting their mining operations on a path of capitalization and transparency. At the same time, these institutional players often have the bargaining power to negotiate directly with power companies and large equipment manufacturers, further squeezing the survival space of small and medium-sized miners.

It is worth noting that some emerging financial platforms have begun to offer derivative products such as "hash rate ETFs" and "hash rate futures," financializing the mining hash rate itself and attracting investors who wish to indirectly engage with Bitcoin mining profits. This has, to some extent, increased the liquidity of the industry and shifted mining from a "hardware assembly competition" to a "comprehensive contest of finance and energy."

The geographic migration of Bitcoin mining has never ceased. From early China to today's North America, Central Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, wherever there is stable, low-cost electricity, it may become a new paradise for miners. However, policy uncertainty remains a sword of Damocles hanging over miners.

Recently, Kazakhstan has tightened taxation and electricity regulation for mining, while Russia, despite its abundant energy, has fluctuating policy statements; within the United States, there is also a clear divide, with some states actively attracting investment while others tend to tighten mining permits.

After the global Bitcoin halving, the regional policy divergence will increasingly affect miners' cost structures and risk preferences. For this reason, more and more large mining companies are beginning to layout "multi-node" strategies globally to disperse the uncertainties brought by policies in a single region.

It is foreseeable that the next stage of the Bitcoin mining industry will be a multi-faceted game of energy efficiency, capital strength, and policy sensitivity. Mining companies with low-cost electricity, advanced cooling technologies, strong financing channels, and compliance capabilities will have greater survival potential after the halving, and may even increase market concentration through mergers and acquisitions.

For individual miners, "going it alone" may be becoming a thing of the past. Embracing hash rate sharing, hash rate hosting, or shifting to partnerships with large mining farms may be their realistic choices to remain in this industry chain.

After the halving, competition has not ended; it has merely changed tracks. The focus has shifted from competing on mining machines and electricity costs to who can survive longer in the multi-faceted game of policy, finance, and energy—this is the profound transformation the Bitcoin mining industry is currently experiencing.

Related: Can corporate Ethereum (ETH) reserve expansion drive Ethereum prices to $2800?

Original article: “After the Bitcoin (BTC) Halving, Mining Reshuffles: New Energy, Institutions, and Policies Reshape the Global Mining Landscape”

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