The latest report from TheMinerMag highlighted that Bitcoin mining revenue maintained a steady pace with $1.4 billion earned in January 2025. Despite this consistency in revenue, the Bitcoin network experienced its first decline in difficulty since September, suggesting a slowdown in the hashrate growth.

Public mining firms, which are a significant force in the industry, contributed to about 30% of the network's hashrate in January.

The report indicates that public mining companies have continued to increase their hash power, yet their expansion wasn't sufficient to offset the reduced activity from potentially smaller operators who have left the market.

As a result, January did not see the rapid hashrate growth that characterized previous months. These public companies currently hold 99,000 bitcoin, valued at approximately $9.7 billion.

Amid these developments, competition among the leading mining firms has intensified, with Marathon Digital (NASDAQ: MARA ) holding the top position, achieving a hashrate of 41.65 EH/s. CleanSpark (NASDAQ: CLSK ) follows closely with 34.77 EH/s, and Riot Platforms (NASDAQ: RIOT ) is not far behind at 31.27 EH/s.

The report notes that there is a significant competitive push within the top tier of mining firms, while a widening gap is observed between them and the next tier, which includes Core Scientific, Cipher Mining (NASDAQ: CIFR ), and Bitfarms.

The recent halving event, which reduced Bitcoin mining rewards by half, has contributed to an increasingly challenging environment for miners, particularly small-scale operations. With the price of Bitcoin hovering near $100,000, larger mining companies are better positioned to withstand the pressures of reduced profit margins.

Additionally, the import of mining hardware into the U.S. has slowed, with only a few firms such as Blockchain Power Corp and AcroHash importing substantial cooling systems from Bitmain. This deceleration in hardware imports further contributes to the stabilization of the hashrate growth.

TheMinerMag anticipates another decline in the network's difficulty adjustment in February, driven by the exit of smaller mining operators who are struggling to remain profitable.

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