Miners have faced reduced profits after the mining reward was halved, despite the hashrate reaching new record highs. The primary reason for the hashrate increase has been previously purchased mining rigs, which miners plan to deploy to upgrade their operations.
According to Luxor’s Hashrate Index, the hashrate reached a record high of 658 exahashes per second on May 25. However, this relentless growth could slow down in the coming months due to the hot summer ahead in North America.
Miners use powerful machines that generate a lot of heat as a result of their calculations. Blockware Intelligence analysts report that miners’ number one task is reducing temperature. ASICs are large, powerful computers that can reach very high temperatures without cooling.
Mitigating heat becomes an even more serious issue in the summer. Many miners are forced to cut operations due to overheating and the high energy consumption in residential areas.
According to a report by Colin Harper, hot weather will dampen hashrate growth, as it did in 2022 and 2023. In fact, the hashrate has already begun to decline. As of June 17, according to Hashrate Index, it is down 10% to 589 EH/s.
However, a lower hashrate could be a positive outcome for some miners, as competition decreases in the summer. Some miners, such as Riot Platforms (RIOT), will be able to earn additional income from the power grid.