The Bitcoin market and mining sector are never boring. Over the past week, we saw Bitcoin retrace 15% after reaching an all-time high. Bitcoin ETFs also surpassed gold ETFs in total assets under management, while a record amount of hashrate was added. Bitcoin price fluctuations caused a record single-day outflow for Bitcoin ETFs and pushed hashprice back below its key threshold. Amid these developments, a car service company became one of the largest public Bitcoin miners, and American oil company Halliburton, together with 360 Mining, transforms stranded gas into hashpower. Let’s dive in!
Bitcoin Price Holiday Gifting Discount
Bitcoin ETFs See Record Single-Day Outflow
Bitcoin ETFs Surpasses Gold ETFs in Total Assets Under Management
Record Amount of Hashrate Added in 2024
Cango Becomes Third-Largest Public Bitcoin Miner
Difficulty Projected to Close the Year at an All-Time High
Hashprice Declines Below Key Threshold as Bitcoin Price Drops
Premium Members Only:
Halliburton and 360 Mining Transforming Stranded Gas into Hashpower
The 150 Billion Cubic Meter Potential
Meeting Environmental Standards and Regulations
Emission Reductions and Increased Resource Extraction
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Bitcoin Price Holiday Gifting Discount
Following the Federal Reserve’s recent decision to cut rates by 25 basis points, Bitcoin’s price took a significant hit, falling below the $100K mark. This occurred alongside the largest single-day drop in the S&P 500 since November 22. The market reaction was driven by the Fed’s hawkish stance, signalling fewer rate cuts than expected in 2025. This shift in policy spurred massive liquidations. Despite Bitcoin being promoted as an alternative to traditional financial systems, its price movements often align with those of traditional risk assets, such as growth stocks.
The shift in sentiment contributed to a sharp 15% decline from the fresh all-time high at $108,000 to the $92K level. Retracements of 20% or more have been a common feature in Bitcoin’s journey to previous all-time highs so a current dip should not be reason to panic. To put it into perspective, Bitcoin price is back at levels last seen 20 days ago and BTC is still up 125% year-to-date.
Bitcoin ETFs See Record Single-Day Outflow
Until December 18th, investor enthusiasm remained strong, with over $5 billion in inflows since November, driven by Bitcoin reaching a new all-time high of over $108,000. However, as BTC’s price began to decline, ETF holders started selling, resulting in the largest single-day outflow since the inception of Bitcoin ETFs—a total of $671.9 million on December 19th.
Bitcoin ETFs Surpasses Gold ETFs in Total Assets Under Management
Bitcoin ETFs have reached a significant milestone, surpassing gold ETFs in total assets under management. Combined assets across spot, futures, and leveraged Bitcoin ETFs now total $130 billion, edging out gold ETFs at $128 billion, according to K33 Research.
On December 17th spot Bitcoin ETFs alone held $123.34 billion, just shy of the $125 billion in spot gold ETFs. This achievement comes less than a year after the SEC approved spot Bitcoin ETFs in January. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust leads the market with nearly $60 billion in assets, having overtaken BlackRock’s iShares Gold Trust in November.
Record Amount of Hashrate Added in 2024
About two weeks ago, the Bitcoin network’s hashrate surpassed the 800 EH/s mark for the first time, reaching a new all-time high of 805 EH/s on the 7-day moving average. Since then, the hashrate has slightly retraced and currently sits at 795 EH/s. Year-to-date, the hashrate has increased by 283 EH/s, already surpassing the 250 EH/s added in 2023—despite the halving event putting significant pressure on mining margins. If the network hashrate closes the year at 762 EH/s or higher, 2024 will go down as a record-breaking year in terms of hashrate growth.
Cango Becomes Third-Largest Public Bitcoin Miner
NYSE-listed Cango, a Shanghai-based auto service company, has pivoted to Bitcoin mining acquiring 32 EH/s of hashrate from Bitmain subsidiaries for $256 million. The company became the third-largest public miner after MARA (46.1 EH/s installed) and CleanSpark (33.7 EH/s installed) with a bigger fleet than Riot Platforms (30.8 EH/s installed).
Cango’s fleet, composed entirely of Antminer S19 XP units, is currently hashing in the United States under Bitmain’s management. An additional 18 EH/s is under consideration through a $144 million all-stock deal with Golden TechGen, a company led by former Bitmain CFO Max Hua. In November alone, Cango mined 363.9 BTC.
This rapid revenue growth, coupled with widespread coverage in Western media, drove Cango’s market capitalization to over $500 million. Its share price surged by more than 100%, rising from $3.70 in mid-November to over $8.07 by December 18th. However, in the following days, the stock retraced significantly, reportedly due to company owners selling shares.
Difficulty Projected to Close the Year at an All-Time High
On December 15th, Bitcoin mining difficulty adjusted to a record high, rising by 4.43% shortly after the network’s hashrate surpassed 800 EH/s. The final difficulty adjustment of 2024 is projected for December 29th. With the hashrate currently stabilizing, a slight increase in difficulty is estimated or occur. If this would happen, difficulty closes the year at an all-time high.
Hashprice Declines Below Key Threshold as Bitcoin Price Drops
The recent drop in Bitcoin’s price during an all-time-high difficulty epoch has pushed hashprice below $60/PH/day, currently sitting at $55/PH/day. With transaction fees contributing just over 1% of the total block reward and only minor difficulty adjustments projected, a Bitcoin price recovery is essential for hashprice to reclaim the $60 level. At the current difficulty, Bitcoin would need to surpass $101,200 to achieve this rebound.
The following content is exclusively for our Premium Members:
Halliburton and 360 Mining Transforming Stranded Gas into Hashpower
The 150 Billion Cubic Meter Potential
Meeting Environmental Standards and Regulations
Emission Reductions and Increased Resource Extraction
