Hashrate Index Q1-2023 Report: From Ramen to Ribeye (or at Least a Decent Sirloin)

Hashrate Index's Q1 report is here!

Last quarter hit the mining sector like a slap in the face or a splash of ice cold water – but in a good way.

Bitcoin's sudden rise over the quarter shocked the industry back to life, and as margins improved, Bitcoin's hashrate surged, public Bitcoin miners bounced back from the brink, and miners with average power/hosting costs in the US rose back above breakeven costs.

We cover all of that and much, much more in our Q1-2023 report, which you can download below:

And if you're in a rush and want to read it all later, here's a sampling of some of our findings.

Hashprice rises from all-time lows

The collapse of FTX and the contagion it caused put bitcoin on life-support at the end of last year – and with it, much of the Bitcoin mining industry.

Bleak as the new year looked at the outset, the lowest day for hashprice on a USD basis in Q1 was January 1. It was only up from there as a 70% rise resuscitated Bitcoin’s price over the quarter, and along with it, hashprice.

Hashprice rose 31% over the course of Q1-2023 thanks to Bitcoin’s price appreciation.

This rally gave miners some financial cushion, especially those with middle-of-the-road power costs.

At the turn of the new year, for example, an S19j Pro’s breakeven power cost was $0.0812/kWh; by the end of last quarter, the breakeven was $0.10/kWh. Not exactly lavish margins, but it’s welcomed breathing room for miners who were underwater at the end of last year.

As ever, the profitability boost means more hardware came online last quarter than miners otherwise would have deployed with a lower hashprice. The 35% increase in Bitcoin’s hashrate fed Bitcoin’s mining difficulty, which swelled 31.6% over Q1 to an all-time high. In turn, this growth shrank BTC hashprice 23.2% over Q1-2023.

The average USD hashprice over Q1 was $73.08/PH/day, versus $65.47/PH/day in Q4-2022 and $123.88/PH/day over 2022. So quarter-over-quarter, average hashprice saw a much-needed bump, but relative to the whole of 2022 (a bear market year), hashprice is still down bad.

If Bitcoin keeps running, then this could offset the inevitable hashrate/difficulty growth and keep hashprice above $80/PH/day.

Read on in the report for detailed hashprice/hashrate forecasting

Average hosting cost per state and province stabilize

As hosting providers become more transparent and networks open up, it’s becoming increasingly easier for miners to geographically distribute hashrate. Hosting marketplaces, like Compass and Blockware, as well as directory/referral sites, like Luxor’s ASIC Trading Desk and Hashbranch, have opened up retail access to bitcoin mining hosts all over the world.

In the US and Canada, hosting prices are stabilizing and, in some regions, coming down after rising with energy costs in 2022. And contrary to Q4-2022, the average hosting cost for every state is below the current breakeven cost for an Antminer S19j Pro.