13 Jun 2022
The public miners are producing less bitcoin than expected
At the start of 2022, most public miners had lofty plans to expand their bitcoin production capabilities. Halfway into 2022 and few have managed to increase their bitcoin production.
In May, most public miners didn't produce significantly more bitcoin than in January. These companies have struggled to keep up with the increasing difficulty and have not been able to grow their hashrate as fast as expected.Some of these companies are even producing less bitcoin now than at the start of the year. Marathon is the prime example, mining 462 BTC in January and only 268 in May, corresponding to a 42% decrease. Their May and April production numbers are especially disappointing considering that they had among the most extensive hashrate expectation plans.Marathon's reduced bitcoin production is mostly caused by their delays in energizing their machines at their new Texas facility and ongoing maintenance issues at the coal plant in Montana, which powers most of their miners.Bitfarms is the only of these miners that has consistently increased its bitcoin production since January. The company produced 301 BTC in January and 431 in May, a 43% increase.Will the disappointing bitcoin production numbers of most public miners in 2022 teach investors to be more critical when they see lofty future hashrate plans?