BTC approaches $91,000, but mining stocks unexpectedly drop 1.8%?

This week, Bitcoin surged to the $91,000 mark but failed to lift the entire crypto asset ecosystem. Surprisingly, mining company stocks showed a downward trend, with a weekly decline of 1.8%, and trading volume also stagnated, with transaction amounts dropping more than a quarter within five days. Behind this phenomenon lies industry difficulties deeper than technical adjustments.

Mining Stocks Weakening: Liquidity Drying Up and Investor Retreat

During the week, trading volume in the mining sector fell from $413,500 to $307,350, a decrease of 25.66%, reflecting a clear wait-and-see attitude among investors. Among 34 listed mining companies, only 6 saw gains, while the remaining 28 declined.

In the industry’s leading camp, U.S. Bitcoin miner American Bitcoin Corp. (ABTC) experienced the most intense sell-off, with its stock price plummeting from $5.75 to $2.23 over five days, a decline of 47.40%. This sharp drop was mainly due to early private placement shares unlocking, allowing initial investors to realize gains and triggering concentrated sell-offs. In contrast, Applied Digital Corporation (APLD) and Core Scientific, Inc. (CORZ) moved against the trend, rising by 15.20% and 1.30%, respectively.

More notably, the entire mining sector’s market capitalization evaporated by $1.23 billion within a week, dropping from $69.12 billion on November 28, 2023, to $67.89 billion. This reflects a market reassessment of the long-term competitiveness of some traditional mining companies.

Cost Pressure Crushing Profits: The Critical Point of Mining Business Models

The fundamental driver behind the decline in mining stocks is not short-term technical volatility but increasingly evident profitability difficulties within the industry. According to the latest statistics, the average cash cost to produce one BTC for listed mining companies has risen to $74,600. When including depreciation and stock-based compensation (SBC), the total cost reaches as high as $137,800.

Even with Bitcoin hovering around $90,000, this cost structure significantly compresses operating margins, forcing many mining companies into a dilemma of shrinking profitability. This situation worsens as total network hash rate continues to climb—breaking through a historic high of 1 zettahash/second (ZH/s)—with intensified competition further driving up unit costs.

Strategic Breakthroughs: Mining Giants Turning to AI

Facing profit pressures from traditional mining models, some leading mining companies are actively exploring new growth points. The most representative case is Applied Digital’s $25 million investment in Swiss specialized firm Corintis, which focuses on cooling solutions for AI-specific chips.

The strategic logic behind this move is that the profit margins of AI and high-performance computing (HPC) data centers far surpass those of crypto mining, while also leveraging the existing infrastructure and operational advantages of mining companies. In other words, the industry is evolving from pure Bitcoin mining to diversified high-end computing services.

The key question in the current market is whether this transformation can offset the rising costs and market volatility. The future trend of the mining sector will largely depend on the execution efficiency of corporate strategic adjustments and the timing of market opportunities.