Bitcoin Miner Bitdeer Overtakes MARA, Establishing Hash Rate Lead: JPMorgan

In brief

• Bitdeer has become the largest publicly traded Bitcoin miner by self-mining hash rate.
• The company reported mining 668 Bitcoin last month.
• Bitdeer has been deploying proprietary Bitcoin mining rigs.

Bitcoin miner Bitdeer has overtaken MARA in terms of self-mining hash rate among publicly traded companies, establishing itself as an industry leader within the past month, according to JPMorgan analysts. At 63.2 exahashes per second (EH/s), Bitdeer is now allocating more computational resources to Bitcoin’s network for itself than MARA, analysts led by Reginald Smith wrote. MARA last reported a self-mining hash rate of 60.4 EH/s. The shakeup follows what analysts described as an “impressive” month for Bitdeer, in which the Singapore-based firm added 8 EH/s. In a production update earlier this month, Bitdeer said the growth was spurred by the deployment of proprietary SEALMINER mining rigs. 

For years, MARA’s relentless fleet expansion set the sector’s pace, but the company has rebranded as a digital infrastructure firm within the past year while prioritizing AI. That has involved a shift toward running AI workloads for MARA’s customers. While MARA has traditionally relied on off-the-shelf hardware from giants like Bitmain, Bitdeer has taken a different approach with development of its hyper-efficient silicon. After recent deployments, Bitdeer mined 668 Bitcoin in January, a 430% increase year-over-year. Earlier this month, Bitdeer signaled that it’s evaluating leasing opportunities for data centers that could bring AI cloud services online for U.S. customers this year. Still, the firm’s Chief Business Officer Matt Kong said that the company will continue to deploy SEALMINER mining rigs this year, as well. Although Bitdeer is leaning into self-mining, the company also hosts Bitcoin miners for customers, while offering subscription plans for mining income. The company recently reported having 78.1 EH/s in “total hash rate under management,” with 13.0 EH/s for hosted operations.

MARA no longer reports company-wide Bitcoin production. And considering the size of MARA’s joint-venture operations in the Middle East, the company may still be an overall leader, as of December, per The Energy Mag. As Bitdeer’s self-mining activity has accelerated over the past month, so too has its selling. The company said it held 1,530 Bitcoin at the end of the month, down from 2,017 in December. With Bitcoin changing hands around $68,000, its holdings were worth $104 million.