Bitcoin Miners from Wall Street Pivot to AI as Bitcoin Operations Face Headwinds in 2025

Leading U.S. Bitcoin miners from Wall Street reported varied production results for January 2025, as extreme weather conditions and network difficulty fluctuations impacted operations across multiple regions.

MARA (NASDAQ: MARA), one of the industry’s largest miners, saw a 12% decline in monthly production, generating 750 Bitcoin compared to 865 in December. The company maintained its energized hashrate at 53.2 EH/s, focusing on optimizing its existing fleet through immersion cooling conversions in Texas and upgrading to more efficient S21 Pro miners in Nebraska.

“In January, our production saw a 12% month-over-month decline in blocks won, largely due to fluctuations in network difficulty and intermittent curtailment,” said Fred Thiel, MARA’s chairman and CEO. “After a very busy end of 2024 during which we relocated and brought online over 100,000 miners, our energized hashrate remained consistent with December, as no new miners were brought online during the month.

Riot Platforms (NASDAQ: RIOT) demonstrated resilience with a 2% increase in monthly production, mining 527 Bitcoin while expanding its total deployed hash rate to 33.5 EH/s. The company notably completed commissioning its Corsicana Facility but announced a strategic pivot, halting its planned 600 MW Phase II Bitcoin mining expansion to evaluate AI/HPC opportunities.

Jason Les, CEO of Riot Blockchain

“Riot mined 527 bitcoin in January, marking the second consecutive month of increased production despite rising network difficulty,” said Jason Les, CEO of Riot.

CleanSpark and Hut 8

CleanSpark (NASDAQ: CLSK) achieved a significant milestone by crossing the 40 EH/s threshold, though operations were affected by extreme weather events. The company produced 626 Bitcoin in January while maintaining a substantial treasury of 10,556 BTC. Despite weather-related curtailments, CleanSpark continued its expansion efforts in Tennessee, Georgia, and Wyoming.

“CleanSpark powered through January, continuing to improve efficiency and reach new milestones despite historic weather events across several of our regions. We crossed the 40 EH/s milestone, achieved more than 10,500 Bitcoin held in treasury, and celebrated the five-year anniversary of our uplisting on Nasdaq by ringing the bell last week,” said Zach Bradford, CEO and President of CleanSpark.

Hut 8 (NASDAQ: HUT) focused on infrastructure upgrades during January, preparing for upcoming miner deliveries. The company reported progress on its 205 MW Vega project, which remains on track for Q2 2025 energization and will support a significant colocation agreement with BITMAIN.

“With infrastructure upgrades for our initial fleet upgrade near completion, we believe we are well-positioned to energize new miners upon expected delivery in the coming weeks,” said Asher Genoot, CEO of Hut 8. “While these upgrades resulted in downtime during the month, we remain focused on optimizing returns from our existing fleet, leveraging Reactor to dynamically curtail operations, particularly at our Alpha site, where power prices were elevated.”

However, the Bitcoin production fell to 65 BTC from 89 BTC reported a month ago.

Industry observers note that miners are increasingly diversifying their strategies, with several companies exploring AI infrastructure opportunities while maintaining their core Bitcoin mining operations. The sector continues to demonstrate adaptability in the face of challenging weather conditions and evolving market dynamics.