Hive Blockchain expects to mine more bitcoin in the fiscal third quarter compared with the second, while ether mining will decline due to increased competition, the company said in a statement.
Hive, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, said it will mine more bitcoins in the quarter ending Dec. 31 than the 656 it produced in the previous quarter, mainly due to investments in expanding its operations.
It also expects to mine more than 6,900 ether, the native token of Ethereum, in the period. That’s a 21% drop from about 8,688 ether mined in the previous quarter.
The decline is due to average mining difficulty rising by over 16% compared with the prior quarter, including a peak level hit on Dec. 7, as more miners started production, the company said.
“This drop in the production of ether in the current quarter compared to the prior quarter will be offset partially by the average price of ether increasing by 45%, and the higher bitcoin mined in this quarter boosted by the increase in the price of bitcoin in the quarter of over 35%,” Hive said.
In fact, CoinDesk’s first ever year-end survey of crypto miners revealed that the increase in hashrate and difficulty is only expected to rise in 2022 as the industry becomes more competitive.
On Nov. 16, Hive reported record revenue in the fiscal second quarter due to higher crypto prices.
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