Mining in August: Efficiency, Valuation Gaps, DiversificationFrom Block Rewards to Capital Strategies
The Bitcoin mining industry has entered a transformative stage in 2025, driven by both market dynamics and major corporate developments. In the U.S., American Bitcoin (ABTC)—backed by the Trump family and Hut 8—debuted on Nasdaq through a reverse merger with Gryphon Digital Mining, closing its first day at a valuation of $7.3 billion. Other listed miners such as IREN and Cipher have also gained momentum as they expand into HPC services. These shifts reflect a broader transformation: mining is evolving beyond block rewards into diversified infrastructure and capital strategies.
From a network perspective, fundamentals remain exceptionally strong. According to Glassnode, Bitcoin’s 7-day average hashrate surpassed 1 ZH/s (1,000 EH/s) in early September for the first time in history, marking a symbolic transition into the “zetahash era.” Simultaneously, CoinWarz reported that network difficulty hit a record 129.7 T in late August, a 6.4% increase over the prior 90 days. In terms of market concentration, CloverPool data indicates that Foundry USA, AntPool, and ViaBTC collectively control nearly 60% of total network hashrate, while publicly listed mining companies already contribute close to 40% of the network’s computing power. This pattern illustrates a steadily consolidating industry, where scale and efficiency are increasingly rewarded, while smaller operators face heightened challenges in competing on cost and capital access.
For miners, the recent increase in network difficulty has not been fully matched by revenue growth. Hashrate Index data shows that hashprice currently stands at $55–60 per PH/s per day, even with Bitcoin trading above $110,000. This reflects the subdued state of the fee market. According to Galaxy Digital, transaction fees contributed less than 0.8% of block rewards in August 2025, one of the lowest levels in recent years. As a result, miner revenue is now primarily determined by block subsidies, highlighting the sector’s growing dependence on efficiency and scale in sustaining operations.
Operation indicators and Valuations
Cleanspark
Deployed hashrate: 50 EH/s
Current capacity: 1,030 MW
Bitcoin holdings: 12,807 BTC
Efficiency: 16.07 J/TH
EV per EH/s: ~49.2
Riot Platforms
Deployed hashrate: 36.4 EH/s
Current capacity: N/A
Bitcoin holdings: 19,309 BTC
Efficiency: 21.0 J/TH
EV per EH/s: ~148.9
BitFuFu
Deployed hashrate: 35.6 EH/s
Current capacity: 628 MW
Bitcoin holdings: 1,899 BTC
Efficiency: 17.5 J/TH
EV per EH/s: ~16.1
Cango
Deployed hashrate: 50 EH/s
Current capacity: N/A
Bitcoin holdings: 5,193 BTC
Efficiency: N/A
EV per EH/s: ~5.1
Hut 8
Deployed hashrate: 18.5 EH/s
Current capacity: 762 MW
Bitcoin holdings: 10,667 BTC
Efficiency: N/A
EV per EH/s: ~154.1
Efficiency has become a defining metric in today’s mining landscape, and the contrast between company performance and market valuation is particularly clear in BitFuFu’s case. With an operating efficiency of 17.5 J/TH, BitFuFu is positioned close to the top tier of the industry—narrowly behind CleanSpark’s 16.07 J/TH and ahead of Riot’s 21 J/TH. Despite this, its valuation sits at only $16.1M EV per EH/s, a steep discount compared with Riot at $148.9M and Hut 8 at $154.1M. Such a gap indicates that markets are rewarding brand visibility and balance-sheet holdings more heavily than operational cost advantages, leaving room for companies with disciplined efficiency to be re-rated over time.
Both Riot and BitFuFu have explicitly highlighted strategies aimed at further boosting efficiency in their core mining operations. These include ongoing maintenance programs to maximize fleet stability, selective upgrades of older machines to next-generation models, and targeted acquisitions of mining sites in regions with structurally lower energy prices. Taken together, these initiatives reinforce the critical role of efficiency as the real moat in a high-difficulty, low-fee environment, while also pointing to the potential for re-rating as markets recognize the long-term value embedded in such operational discipline.
Peer Comparison: Hashrate, Efficiency, and the Valuation Divide
Overall, the Bitcoin mining landscape in August 2025 is defined by sharp contrasts. At the macro level, hashrate has surpassed 1 ZH/s and difficulty reached record highs, while the fee market has contracted sharply. This directly pressures self-mining operators reliant on block rewards and fees, but only indirectly affects cloud-mining platforms whose revenues are primarily service-fee based. As a result, cloud-mining models, with their relative insulation from fee volatility and more stable cash flows, may demonstrate greater long-term resilience.
At the micro level, valuation gaps among listed miners show that the market is placing increasing emphasis on efficiency, capital strategy, and balance-sheet positioning rather than scale alone. This explains why companies with similar hashrates trade at vastly different multiples. Put differently, such dispersion presents both risks—where certain miners may be overvalued—and opportunities—where efficient yet undervalued players may see re-rating as their operational discipline gains recognition. From an investment perspective, miners that combine efficiency leadership with strong capital market narratives and financial discipline appear best positioned.
Looking ahead, diversification into artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) offers a compelling new growth avenue. Companies such as Hive and BitFuFu have already begun investing in these areas, both to hedge against mining revenue volatility and to reposition mining infrastructure as multi-purpose computing platforms. This transition not only strengthens long-term resilience but could also serve as a key catalyst for the sector’s next wave of valuation reappraisal.
In conclusion, only miners that achieve advantages across efficiency, capital strategy, and diversification are likely to build sustainable long-term competitiveness in the evolving industry landscape.
