Bitcoin and crypto markets are not the only things performing well this year. Bitcoin mining stocks have also been on fire, some of them outperforming the asset itself last month.
On March 1, Bitcoin mining analyst Jaran Mellerud posted an update on Bitcoin mining stock performance.
His findings revealed that 20% of BTC mining stocks were ahead of the asset’s gains in February. “All but one have outperformed the Nasdaq,” he added.
Since January 1, BTC has climbed 42% to reach today’s price of $23,500. However, a couple of mining firms have seen bigger gains in company stock.
However, the researcher did note that the Bitcoin mining sector “met headwinds in February after a roaring January.”
Bitcoin Mining Stock Gains
Bitcoin prices ended February pretty close to where they started the month, just over $23,000. Five of the twenty-five BTC mining stocks analyzed were ahead of the asset in terms of percentage gains for the month. Mellerud noted:
“We saw enormous performance differences between individual stocks, with company-specific events being more significant price movement drivers than usual.”
Iris Energy (IREN) was the top-performing mining stock in February, with a gain of 29%. The research found that most of the gains came mid-month when the Australian firm announced the purchase of 4.4 EH/s worth of mining rigs from Bitmain.
Furthermore, IREN had gained 2.5% on the day to reach $2.85 in after-hours trading.
Cipher Mining (CIFR) was a close second in February with a gain of 27%. The Texan miner company saw huge gains at the start of the month following positive expansion updates in January.
Sphere 3D Corp. (ANY), Cathedra Bitcoin Inc. (CBIT), and Stronghold Digital Mining Inc. (SDIG) also outperformed Bitcoin in February with gains of 7% to 11%.
However, many of the major industry players such as Riot (RIOT), Marathon Digital (MARA), Hut 8 (HUT), and Greenidge (GREE) saw stock prices decline in February.
BTC Mining Outlook
The Bitcoin network hash rate is near peak levels which is good for security but not so much for miners competing for the next block.
The average network hash rate is currently at 327 EH/s (exahashes per second), according to BitInfoCharts. It peaked in late February as new machines found their way online to secure the network.
Network difficulty is also at a peak level of 43 T, making competition between miners the highest it has ever been.
Hash price or mining profitability is currently $0.07 dollars per terahash per day. It has increased 18.6% since the beginning of the year but remains nearly 80% down from late 2021 levels.
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