Marathon Digital Holdings, the largest player in the Bitcoin mining industry, has suffered a significant loss in the second quarter of this year.
This loss is mainly attributed to the impact of the Bitcoin halving. This four-yearly halving took place in April and, like every halving, is a severe test for mining companies.
A big loss in the second quarter of 2024
The net loss was $199 million, largely driven by a $148 million impairment charge in digital assets on Marathon’s balance sheet. By comparison, the loss in the second quarter of 2023 was $9 million. MARA’s share price fell 7.8 percent to $18.14 amid a broader decline in tech stocks.
The halving didn’t just affect Marathon; virtually all major players in the industry had a rough quarter. For example, Marathon’s competitor Riot Platforms reported a net loss of $84.4 million, largely due to a more than 50 percent drop in the number of Bitcoins mined in June.
Marathon CEO Fred Thiel also pointed to unexpected equipment failures and maintenance issues at one of the company’s locations. Despite these setbacks, Marathon’s hashrate reached an all-time high of 31.5 exahash per second in the past quarter. Revenue increased 78 percent to approximately $145 million, driven primarily by a higher average price of Bitcoin mined and revenue from new hosting services. However, this high revenue was not enough to offset the large losses.
Impact of Bitcoin halving on production and quarterly figures
The Bitcoin halving caused a significant drop in Bitcoin production at Marathon, with BTC production dropping 30 percent to 2,058 BTC, compared to 2,926 BTC in the same quarter last year. This trend is also reflected in the broader industry, with other mining companies also seeing significant drops in production following the halving.
The disappointing quarterly figures of Marathon and other mining companies are not a surprise. The period after the halving is always a time of acclimatization, and this was already clear before the halving. In the months before the halving, the big players pulled out all the stops to get through the post-halving period well. The worst time is now expected to be behind us.
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Source: https://newsbit.nl/marathon-digital-holdings-rapporteert-een-verlies-van-200-miljoen-in-tweede-kwartaal/
