Bitcoin miners are facing significant challenges in 2025, with declining transaction fees and increasing costs squeezing their profits. Despite Bitcoin’s high price, smaller miners are struggling to survive due to the rising difficulty of mining and volatile USD-denominated revenue.
Transaction fees have hit historic lows since 2012, reducing miners’ revenue from block rewards. The 2024 halving has also increased competition, causing the Revenue/Hash ratio to reach historic lows. As a result, smaller operations may struggle to remain profitable, leading to industry consolidation.
To stay afloat, many miners are diversifying their revenue streams by branching into computing services or seeking mergers and acquisitions. Others are migrating to regions with cheaper energy sources, such as hydro or geothermal power.
However, this shift could lead to increased centralization in the industry, with only large, technologically advanced miners thriving. This could raise concerns about Bitcoin’s decentralization and long-term health. The 2024 halving has already tested the resilience of the mining ecosystem, and its aftermath will be crucial in determining whether mining remains a competitive field or consolidates into fewer hands.
As operational costs surge, some miners may shut down inefficient operations, leading to a natural rebalancing of the network’s security model. This could further concentrate network security in fewer hands, raising questions about censorship resistance and trust in the network’s long-term integrity.
Source: https://ambcrypto.com/bitcoin-miners-are-earning-less-despite-btcs-high-price-heres-why