Bitcoin mining profitability decreased in September, according to a report from Jefferies.
Jefferies predicts that October could present challenges for the sector as the hashrate has increased by 11%, surpassing the 5% rise in the price of bitcoin.
The report also highlighted that North American listed mining companies mined a larger portion of the network in September compared to August.
In September, Bitcoin (BTC) mining profitability saw a decline compared to the previous month. The average price of the leading cryptocurrency remained relatively stable while the network hashrate saw a 1.7% increase, as reported by Jefferies in their recent research.
The investment firm pointed out that the average daily revenue per exahash dropped by 2.6% compared to the previous month.
“October is shaping up to be a challenging month with BTC prices only showing a 5% increase, while the network hashrate has surged by 11%, outweighing the price growth,” stated analysts Jonathan Petersen and Joe Dickstein.
In September, North American mining companies accounted for a larger share of bitcoin mining compared to August, making up 22.2% of the total network, up from 19.9% in the previous month. This shift was attributed in part to improved uptime for these companies due to cooler temperatures.
Marathon Digital (MARA) emerged as the top miner, producing 705 bitcoins, followed by CleanSpark (CLSK) with 493 mined coins, according to the report.
Marathon maintained the largest installed hashrate in the sector, reaching 36.9 exahashes per second (EH/s) by the end of September. Riot Blockchain (RIOT) came in second with 28.2 EH/s.
Jefferies also mentioned the ongoing “bitcoin election” and suggested that regardless of the outcome, there could be favorable policies towards the industry.
Read more: Bitcoin, Gold Could Benefit From Rising Geopolitical Tension and U.S. Election: JPMorgan