In a recent report, CleanSpark, a prominent public mining firm, has achieved a significant milestone, reaching a hashrate of 20 exahashes per second (EH/s), marking a notable moment in the ongoing hashrate competition among large-scale Bitcoin miners. This comes in the face of a declining average network hashrate and persistent low hashprice for Bitcoin.

According to TheMinerMag, CleanSpark announced in a production update that it concluded June with an installed hashrate of 20.4 EH/s, a step up from the 18 EH/s at the end of May. This increase in hashrate has correspondingly led to a 6.7% growth in Bitcoin production, totaling 445 BTC for June. Despite selling 8 BTC, the company has managed to boost its reserves to 6,591 BTC.

The surge in CleanSpark's hashrate is largely credited to the acquisition of 60 megawatts of infrastructure in Georgia last month, which added 3.7 EH/s of capacity. "As of June 30, approximately 1.7 EH/s have been deployed," CleanSpark indicated in their press release.

During a period when Bitcoin's average network hashrate saw a decrease from 599 EH/s in May to 580 EH/s in June, CleanSpark's June Bitcoin production showcased a realized hashrate of 17.9 EH/s, representing a 6% month-over-month growth. The network downturn is thought to reflect the withdrawal of some smaller, less profitable mining operations, with the hashprice largely remaining below the $60 per petahash per second (PH/s) mark.

However, CleanSpark was not the only firm to ramp up operations. Bitfarms, another public mining entity, also reported a 20% rise in both Bitcoin production and realized hashrate in June after completing upgrades at its sites.

Zach Bradford, CEO of CleanSpark, highlighted the company’s focus on enhancing Bitcoin mining hashrate and revenue, stating, "Surpassing 20 EH/s in operational hashrate is more than double our hashrate from December," and emphasizing their commitment to efficiency and future prospects in Wyoming and Tennessee.

Despite a decline from the same period last year, the 445 Bitcoin mined in June is in line with expectations, considering the Bitcoin halving event this past April, which reduced miner rewards by 50%. Additionally, CleanSpark acquired Bitcoin mining firm GRIID Infrastructure in a deal valued at $155 million.

Looking forward, CleanSpark anticipates reaching 100 megawatts of operational power by year-end. The company has mined a total of 3,614 Bitcoin in 2024 to date. Nonetheless, CleanSpark’s stock (CLSK) traded down 3.8% following the report, mirroring a downturn in Bitcoin's price, which fell 2.2% over the same period.

TheMinerMag Article

CleanSpark Press Release