The network’s mining difficulty hit a record high, and the price of bitcoin on the spot market fell below its cost of production, making it difficult for miners to earn a living. With electricity prices at $0.07 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), only 18 application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) bitcoin mining rigs are currently profitable at the going rate.

Current SHA256 ASIC Models Unprofitable at $0.12 Per KWh, Only Two Devices Profitable at $0.10 Per KWh

According to statistics, on December 31, 2022, the hash rate for bitcoin is averaging around 300 exahashes per second (EH/s), up from a low of 235 EH/s on December 30. Furthermore, according to information from macromicro.me, the cost of production at the moment ($16,577) is almost identical to the price of one bitcoin on the spot market at the moment ($16,572).

Data from macromicro.me shows that the current spot market value and the cost of producing BTC are almost equal.

Macromicro.me calculates the cost of production by “observing consumption of electricity and daily issuance of bitcoin, as provided by Cambridge University.” The Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI) displays the annualized consumption of BTC on December. 31, 2022, is 84.74 terawatts per hour (TWh). With the current BTC prices at $16,572 per unit and the current mining difficulty at 35.36 trillion, many ASIC mining machines are not profitable.

The date of this writing, December 31, 2022, Antminer S19 XP Hyd from Bitmain. is the most profitable bitcoin mining rig. At $0.08 per kWh, the S19 XP Hyd produces 255 terahashes per second (TH/s). can make an estimated $5.74 per day in profits.

For instance, with electricity costs at $0.12 per kWh, none of the current SHA256 ASIC models are profitable. Two ASIC devices are profitable at $0.10 per kWh and can generate profits of $1.14–$2.51 per day. Bitmain’s Antminer S19 XP Hyd is among the top two machines that can still turn a profit at $0.10 per kWh. with 255 terahash per second (Bitmain’s Antminer S19 XP has 140 TH/s and TH/s (TH/s).

18 ASIC Mining Rigs Profitable at $0.07 Per KWh, Alternative Consensus Algorithms See Better Profits

13 different ASIC bitcoin mining machines can make between $0.13 and $5.08 per day at $0.08 per kWh. Bitmain’s Antminer S19j Pro, with 100 TH/s, has the lowest profits at $0.08 per kWh. Another five machines are added to the list of profitable machines at $0.07 per kWh, bringing the total number of profitable ASIC mining rigs to 18 units.

Depending on the machine used and the cost of electricity at $0.07 per kWh, a bitcoin miner could earn anywhere from $0.23 to $6.35 per day. Antminer S19 XP Hyd from Bitmain. with 255 TH/s and $0.07 per kWh in electricity costs will result in an estimated profit of $6.35 per day.

Machines that mine alternative consensus algorithms see better profits while SHA256 bitcoin mining machines see lower profits than they did six months ago. Kadena, Eaglesong, Scrypt, and Handshake are currently the top three consensus algorithms in terms of financial success.