🧵 Bitcoin Mining vs Buying Bitcoin Directly

Would you acquire more BTC by purchasing 1 BTC right now or by purchasing 1 BTC worth of Bitcoin Miners?

Let’s walk through a full breakdown 🧵👇 There are a handful of variables at play when it comes to analyzing the returns of Bitcoin mining. The most important variables are:

- BTC/USD Exchange Rate
- Mining Difficulty
- Machine Hashrate & Efficiency
- Machine Cost
- Electricity Rate

For this analysis we are using the following key assumptions:

- BTC CAGR: 25% (2025 YTD Trend)
- Mining difficulty CAGR: 15% (2025 YTD Trend)
- Antminer S21+ Miners (235T, 16.5 W/T)
- 1 BTC (~$118,000) worth of Machines (~21.45 units)
Electricity Rate of $0.078/kWh
- Turnkey Hosting with Blockware Starting on August 1st 2024
- 3 Year Return Analysis (Including the 2028 Halving)

Mining Stocks vs Hosted Mining

If you want exposure to #Bitcoin mining, should you purchase publicly traded mining stocks or mine with a host? What are the trade-offs? Which is more profitable?

Buying Mining Stocks:

- Excess Overhead (Debt Servicing, C-Suite Compensation, etc.)
- Cash-in, Cash-out
- Poor fleet efficiency

Hosted Mining:

- Only operating expense is electricity
- Bitcoin-in, Bitcoin-out
- Next-generation ASICs

Let’s discuss in detail…

Firstly, mining stocks have greatly underperformed spot Bitcoin year-to-date. BTC is up ~55% on the year while $WGMI, the mining stock ETF, is down approximately 5%.

The underperformance of mining stocks is not attributable to an underperformance of mining generally. In fact, mining economics are highly profitable, even with the block subsidy now at 3.125 BTC.

Why have mining stocks underperformed?

The spot Bitcoin ETFs

The ETFs launched in January of this year, providing a way of gaining direct access to Bitcoin exposure through a traditional financial vehicle. Mining stocks previously served as one of the few publicly traded vehicles, outside of $MSTR, that were directionally exposed to Bitcoin. That’s no longer the case with the ETFs.

Investor Speculation about the Halving

There was a strong sell-off of mining stocks during March and April prior to the halving. Investors were fearful of the post-halving environment for Bitcoin miners. Mining stocks have rallied since the halving; a call which we predicted days before the halving.

Mining Economics Comparison

The table below depicts the cost to mine 1 Bitcoin for five of the top publicly traded Bitcoin mining companies, compared to the cost to mine 1 Bitcoin using an S21 hosted with Blockware.

Credit to the original post from @AsherHopp

Public Mining Stocks - Excess Overhead Costs

The bottom line is that an individual Bitcoin miner has far less overhead than a publicly traded Bitcoin miner. The public companies, while they have extremely low electricity rates, carry an immense amount of operational costs beyond just electricity. Primarily executive compensation and debt servicing.

For each of the companies listed in this table, the cost to mine 1 Bitcoin, inclusive of all operating expenses, is north of $80,000 per Bitcoin. For three out of five, it is north of $100,000 per Bitcoin.

A miner with an S21 at Blockware’s facility can mine 1 Bitcoin for ~$38,000 in electricity.

Public Mining Stocks - Cash in, Cash out

Most people deploying capital into Bitcoin mining, whether via equities or via hosted mining, do so with the goal of accumulating more Bitcoin than they otherwise would from buying spot.

The problem with executing this strategy through public mining stocks is that these are Cash in, Cash out vehicles. You cannot buy or sell mining stocks with Bitcoin, and they do not offer a Bitcoin dividend.

On the other hand, mining Bitcoin with a host like Blockware allows you to earn daily Bitcoin rewards and have them sent to your cold-storage wallet.

Moreover, the Blockware Marketplace is a Bitcoin-native platform that allows you to sell your ASICs at any time, and receive payment in Bitcoin. This allows you to capitalize on volatility in the ASIC market as well as recoup your capital expense, in Bitcoin, at any time.

Public Mining Stocks - Poor Fleet Efficiency

Each of the five public mining companies evaluated in the table above has an average fleet efficiency greater than 23 W/Th.

Blockware clients can mine with the latest-generation ASICs, allowing you to immediately surpass the public companies in terms of efficiency. The Antminer S21 has an efficiency of 17.5 W/Th. This is ~28% more efficient than the fleet average of CleanSpark; the most efficient of the pub co’s analyzed.

The table below shows the average breakeven cost for various ASICs at various electricity rates. The $0.078 row that is highlighted represents the standard Blockware rate. Notice the vast advantage that energy-efficient ASICs have when it comes to breakeven costs.


For those seeking to purchase ASICs in bulk (with or without hosting), email sales@blockwaresolutions.com

or click the link in this tweet

We can help you secure all of the top ASICs currently on the market. All machines are new and payment includes tariffs, duties, and shipping.

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The market for #Bitcoin mining rigs is niche and dynamic.

Buying the right machines, at the right time, for the right price, is one of many challenges facing Bitcoin miners.

Let's talk ASICs🧵👇 As ASICs are capable of converting watts into #BTC, the BTC/USD exchange rate (price) is the most impactful variable on ASIC prices in the short term.

If an ASIC is capable of turning 'x $' worth of energy into '> x $' worth of BTC, that's a valuable piece of equipment.

Which is the more favorable strategy to capture the long term opportunity with #Bitcoin ? Mining Bitcoin vs Trading Bitcoin. See thread below 👇👇👇👇👇👇 1/ From 2017-2019, over 390 Crypto Hedge Funds were launched, but PWC estimates that there are only 150 active Crypto Hedge Funds remaining. Not only were Fund Managers unable to outperform Bitcoin, but they lost their initial principle with an asset that returned many multiple.

1/5 MassMutual's recent $100 million #Bitcoin investment has serious implications for the Life Insurance Sector. Lets explore🚀 2/5 MassMutual has allocated 0.04% of their total investment assets to #Bitcoin. As a major life insurance firm, they are experts in managing risk. With massive QE & negative interest rates, Bitcoin has become increasingly attractive.